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HISTORY 



OF 



L Y IN" INT , 



€^m (fffluniiT, Pii^arte^tts: 



CfCIiUDINQ 



LYNNFIELD, SAUGUS, SWAMPSCOT, 



AND 



NA-HA-ISTT. 



BY 

ALONZO LEWIS 

AND 

JAMES R. NEWHALL. 



BOSTON: 

JOHN L. SHOREY, PUBLISHER, 

13 Washington Street. 

1865. 



V/' 



Entei-ed according to Act of Congress in the year 1865, by 

James R. Newhall 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



/I 



J 






( ■ 

J 



PHEFACE 



i 



Alonzo Lewis, the accomplished historian of Lynn, died on 
the twenty-first day of January, 1861. A few years before his 
death he proposed publishing a new edition of his work, which 
appeared in 1844, comprised in a volume of 278 pages. But 
unforeseen obstacles occurred, and his design was never accom- 
plished. The few papers left by him came into the possession 
of the individual whose name is associated with his in the title- 
page of this volume ; but they proved of scarcely any value, 
consisting as they did of loose notes, mostly in pencil, mixed 
with surveying calculations, poetic effusions, and all sorts of 
memoranda ; and a large portion were incapable of being deci- 
phered. I was, therefore, compelled to lay almost every parti- 
cle aside, and simply take his former edition, and add to it 
such matters of interest as were derived from my own ori- 
ginal investigations. It is probable that he intended to pre- 
pare his work as it passed through the press, merely taking 
care to keep just a-head of the printer; though it is barely 
possible that some prepared pages may have been destroyed 
by the fire which occurred at the cottage after his decease. 

I have not felt at liberty to alter the text of Mr. Lewis — 
excepting, of course, to here and there correct an obvious error, 
like an error of the press, or mere slip in transcribing — or in 
any way make him responsible for matter not his own ; and 
hence have indicated by brackets all the material additions and 
corrections that I have made. 

(iii) 



iv PREFACE. 

It is quite impossible to avoid an occasional error in a work 
of this kind. In the multitude of dates, names, and detached 
facts, where there are no connections and associations to 
prompt the mind, the most lively watchfulness will not be 
rewarded with entire success. Errors of the press are particu- 
larly liable to occur in works where figures are freely used ; 
because in fonts of type the figures are all of one size, while 
the letters vary in their proportions, and the printer, who 
readily distinguishes a wrong letter by the mere sense of feel- 
ing is at fault with that sense, when his fingers seize a figure. 
The closing lines of Mather's Magnalia are so apt, that the 
temptation to introduce them here is irresistible : " Reader, 
Carthagena was of the mind that unto those three things which 
the ancients held impossible, there should be added this fourth : 
to find a book printed without erratas. It seems the hands of 
Briareus and the eyes of Argus will not prevent them." And 
elsewhere he says: "The holy Bible itself, in some of its edi- 
tions, hath been affronted with scandalous errors of the press- 
work; and one of them so printed those words. Psalms, 119, 
161 : ' Printers have persecuted me,' &c." It is, however, be- 
lieved, with some confidence, that this volume will be found as 
free from errors as a work of the kind can well be made. 

It seemed necessary to bring along the histories of Lynn and 
her municipal progeny — Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and 
Nahant — in a united form, as mach confusion would ensue 
from an attempt to separate what was so blended ; the tables 
at the close of the volume, embrace all that it appeared requisite 
to give in separate form. 

I have followed Mr Lewis's plan, when giving quotations 
from old records, of presenting them with all their vagaries of 
orthography and syntax. Many have been puzzled to find a 
reason for the diversity of spelling indulged in by the old 
worthies; they often seeming to have used every effort to 



PRBFACH. V 

give a word in as many shapes as possible. But I have come 
to the conclusion that thej were either curiously experimenting 
with the language, or considered the style ornamental. 

It may be observed that I have not been so prodigal of titles 
as is common with some. But this should not be attributed 
to a disposition to detract from the dignity of any one ; for 
the fact is that " Esq." and " Hon." have now come to be so 
profusely, improperly, and even ridiculously applied, that they 
bave ceased to become any thing like safe testimonials of rank 
or worth. And it is quite refreshing to see a name without 
meretricious adoi'nment. It must be a weak name that cannot 
stand without a crutch; and all titles of dignity, when worn 
by those whose lives do not become them, are debasing rather 
than ennobling, impressing all well-ordered minds with a sense 
of irony. But these remarks may be unnecessary, as it is hardly 
probable that the omi-ssion of titles would be noticed by any, 
excepting, perhaps, a few who might feel themselves wronged 
by the omission. Anciently there was more discrimination in 
the use of titles, if there was not less love of them. Mister or 
Master was a title of dignity, awarded to magistrates, ministers, 
doctors, and generally to those who had taken the freeman's 
oath ; and on some occasions individuals were deprived of it, 
by special law, as a punishment. Goodman was the prefix of 
those who had not attained to any dignity, nor had taken the 
freeman's oath. Military titles were highly prized; and as 
exposure to perils might be necessary for their legitimate 
attainment the baptismal font was sometimes resorted to for 
the bestowal ; and it will be by no means a matter of wonder 
if ''Honorables" are presently made in the same way. Conceit 
and ambition have done a great many worse things. There 
was a delicate custom that prevailed to some extent even 
down to the present century, which deserves mentioning — the 
custom of giving to all respectable women who had attained 
A* 



Vi PREFACE. 

middle life — those who had never been wedded as well as those 
who had — the prefix of Mrs. or Mistress. This, however, is not 
so convenient, in some respects, as our custom, and has occa- 
sioned errors among genealogists who did not keep it in mind. 

In designating a particular century, I have adopted, in place 
of the old form, a mode of expression that seems more readily 
to fix the right time in the mind. Instead, for instance, of calling 
the century beginning with 1600, the seventeenth, and that 
beginning with 1700, the eighteenth, the first is designated as 
century 1600, and the latter as century 1700. This seems in 
accordance with the mode of expression usual in similar cases. 

It may not be inappropriate to mention that the types for 
every page of this volume were set by my own hands. There 
are divers things necessary to the decent appearance of any 
work, about which the author has, ordinarily, no occasion to 
trouble himself; but when he is compelled to assume the burden 
his labors are greatly increased. The exactness required in 
everything touching the mechanical department of book making 
is a source of care and perplexity. And then, in a critical point 
of view, the late fantastical innovations in the spelling, com- 
pounding, and capitalizing of words, and the punctuating of 
sentences, demand constant attention, if any thing like uniform- 
ity would be preserved. But it may be unwise to volunteer dis- 
closures that show responsibility. A local work, like this, must 
always be put through the press in the most economical way, 
or pecuniary loss is sure to ensue ; and the present is issued 
not without apprehension on the point. But here it is, with its 
imperfections on its head. It was prepared during hours filched 
from the duties of an exacting profession, and sometimes from 
needed rest. Yet the labor was pleasant. And if the reader 
derives as much enjoyment from the perusal as the writer did 
from the preparation, and he escapes absolute pecuniary loss, he 
is ready to declare himself abundantly satisfied. J. R. N. 



ORDER OF THIS HISTORY- 



CHAPTER L, Beginning on Page 9: 

Embraces Introductory Remarks — Notices of the^ Early 
Voyages and Discoveries in and about our territory — An 
account of the Indians found here, with brief Biograph- 
ical Sketches of some of the more prominent — Topograph- 
ical and general Descriptions, with notices of Natural 
History and Phenomena — Facts concerning the Business 
Enterprises and Employments of the Settlers, and their 
Religious Character, Manners, and peculiar Customs. 

CHAPTER XL, Beginning on Page 111 : 

Carries forward our History, year by year, in the form of 
Annals, giving all important events under the appropriate 
dates, from the time of the first settlement, in 1629, to the 
year 1865 — interspersed with brief notices of prominent 
individuals, and other matters deemed pertinent. 

CHAPTER HI. Beginning on Page 479 : 

Contains Biographical Sketches of various Natives of 
Lynn who from position, endowments or acts seemed enti- 
tled to some special notice. 

CHAPTER IV., Beginning on Page 575: 

Embraces various Tables — Lists of Public Officers, Names 
of Early Settlers, Religious Societies and Ministers, News- 
papers and Editors, etc. — together with Statistical Sum- 
maries. 

CHAPTER v., Beginning on Page 590: 

Contains brief Concluding Remarks, alluding especially to 

(vii) 



Vlll ORDER OP THE HISTORY. 

the progress of Lynn during the last twenty years — 
and closing with acknowledgments for the friendly assist- 
ance received during the progress of the work. 
THE INDEX, Beginning on Page 593: 

Contains all the Surnames in the book, alphabetically ar- 
ranged in connection with the subjects. Names are so nat- 
urally connected in the mind with events that it is thought 
the arrangement will prove highly useful. A full index is 
to a work of this kind of the first importance. Indeed a 
good index is a valuable addition to any work. And the 
object of the threat of Lord Campbell to introduce a bill 
into the British Parliament making it penal to issue a book 
without an index, should be better appreciated by book 
makers than seems generally to be the case. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Of the Illustrations in this volume little need be said, as for 
the most part they explain themselves. But of the two Views 
at the commencement, it may be remarked that in the one taken 
from the base of Sadler's Rock, every church steeple in Lynn 
but three, to wit, the Union street Methodist, the Second Uni- 
versalist, and the South Street Methodist, is shown. On the 
extreme left, appears High Rock, with its Observatory ; and 
then come the steeples in this order : Second Baptist, First 
Universalist, Chesnut Street Congregational, Central Congrega- 
tional, Boston Street Methodist, First Methodist, Roman Cath- 
olic, First Baptist, First Congregational ; which brings us to 
the extreme right of the picture. In the View from Forest 
Place, proceeding from left to right, we have the First Congre- 
gational, Second Universalist, Boston Street Methodist, South 
Street Methodist. And thus the two pictures give every stee- 
ple in town exceping the Union Street Methodist. 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



CHAPTEE, I. 

General Remarks, page 9 — Early Voyages and Discoveries, 25 — Nahant, 
Grant of, to Capt. Gorges, 30 — The Indians, 32 — Indian Deed of Lynn, 
49 — Topography and Phenomena, 56 — Shoes and Shoemaking, 86 — 
Ancient Fen-y ; Roads ; L-on Works, 93 — Peculiar Customs and Doings in 
Religious IMatters, 100. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

When the collection of the facts composing this work was 
commenced, very little was known of the early history of Lynn. 
It had not even been ascertained in what year the town was 
settled — the records for the first sixty-two years were wholly 
wanting — and the names of the early settlers were unknown. 

It has been said that the Town Records were burnt, about the 
year 1690 ; but that they were in existence long after that peri- 
od, is evident from an order respecting them, on the seventh 
of March, 1715, when the inhabitants voted that — '' Whereas, 
some of the old Town Records are much shattered, therefore, 
so much shall be transcribed out of one or more of them, into 
another book as the selectmen shall think best .... and the 
selectmen having perused two of the old Town Books, and 
find that the second book is most shattered, and that the oldest 
book may be kept fare to reed severall years, think it best and 
order, that soe much shall be transcribed." A few pages were 
thus copied, and the books were afterward destroyed or lost. 

[In 1G86, Oliver Purchis was elected Town Clerk. And 
probably he kept the records in a careless manner, as subse- 
quently this passage appears : " At a Town Meeting held in 
Lyn, May 16th, 1704, the town being informed that there was 

(9) 



10 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

considerable concerns of the town lay in loose papers that was 
acted when Capt. Purchis was Town Clark — therefore Voated, 
that the present selectmen, with Capt. Theo. Burrill, should be 
a committee to sort all them papers and such of them as they 
thought fit the Towne Clark to record in y® Towne Booke.' 
The papers were accordingly sorted and some recorded. But 
though among the rejected ones there were doubtless many con- 
taining matters that would be highly interesting to the people 
of this day, yet it is hardly probable that anything of real 
value escaped. 

[The sly censure on Mr. Purchis involved in the vote, 
should, however, be a warning to all delinquent clerks. And 
had some who preceded him been a little more sharply looked 
after it is not likely that we should be so destitute of what 
we now mourn for as lost. Of late years our records have 
been kept in a very perfect manner, and it is earnestly to 
be hoped that the example they furnish may at no time in the 
future be disregarded. 

[It is well to bear in mind, however, that divers matters 
which are now considered entirely within the jurisdiction of 
the towns themselves, were anciently taken cognizance of by 
the General and Quarterly Courts, Town records were hence 
deemed of comparatively small importance, and often kept with 
little care ; far too little, when it is considered what mischief 
might arise, for instance, from uncertainty respecting land allot- 
ments. But the living witnesses were then at hand, and the 
necessities of the great future could not be anticipated. Yet it 
is not believed that Lynn has greatly suffered from the loss of 
her early records. Richard Sadler was our first Clerk of the 
Writs, acting also, it is presumed, in the capacity of Town 
Clerk. And he was probably a man of education, as he after- 
ward became a minister in England. No vestige of his jottings 
are now known to exist. But should every scrap of his old 
book — if, indeed, his records ever assumed a shape worthy of 
so dignified a name — come to light, it is hardly jjrobable that 
it would compensate for a perusal excepting in the way of 
curiosity ; for it appears almost certain that a knowledge of all 
the doings of real importance has come down to us through 
other channels. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 11 

[AVhere Mr. Lewis, a few lines hence, speaks of Laving discov- 
ered a copy of three pages of the town records of 1G38, he no 
doubt refers to those containing the land allotments. He found 
the copy among the records at Salem. Now this fact shows 
that the old authorities realized the importance of perpetuating 
evidence concerning the division, and hence had the pages 
recorded where the record would be most secure ; if, indeed, 
the law did not then require that all transactions concerning 
real estate should appear in the county archives. And does 
not this support the view just taken concerning the value of 
the lost records ? The great utility of a proper record of births, 
marriages and deaths, was in former times seldom kept in view. 
Our town books all along bear melancholy evidence of this. 
And even now, it is hard to make some people realize how 
important a record concerning even the most humble individual 
may become somewhere in the future. Very few come into the 
world, concerning whom it is not of consequence to preserve 
some exact knowledge, however lowly may be the estimation 
in which their own modesty induces them to hold themselves.] 

In my researches I found several volumes of old records of 
births, marriages and deaths, commencing in 1G75, in a very 
ruinous condition, and caused them to be bound and furnished 
with an index. The earliest record of the proceedings of the 
town, now in existence, commences in the year 1691 ; and the 
earliest parish record, in 1722. 

I have examined every attainable source of information, to 
supply the deficiencies of the lost records. I have discovered 
numerous ancient manuscripts ; and among them a copy of three 
pages of the old Town Records for 1G38, and several in subse- 
quent years, which providentially happened to be the pages 
most wanted. I have also found a journal, kept daily for forty- 
four years by Mr. Zaccheus Collins ; and another, for twenty 
years, by Mr. Richard Pratt; in which they appear to have 
noticed everything remarkable during those long periods, and 
from which I have extracted many interesting particulars. I 
have transcribed from the records of state and county, as well 
as from those of town and parish ; and from numerous files of 
unpublished papers. Indeed I have spared neither labor nor 
expense to make this history complete. Not only have nume- 



12 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

rous volumes concerning early discoveries and settlements in 
America been consulted, but the manuscript records of towns 
and parishes in Great Britain and other European nations have 
been explored. 

It would have been quite as easy, in most instances, to have 
conveyed the ideas in my own words ; but as I was delighted 
with the quaintness and simplicity of the original language, I 
thought that perhaps others might be equally plea?v^d. More- 
over, I like to hear people tell their own stories. Some histori- 
ans have strangely distorted facts by changing the language so 
as to fit their own fancies or conform to their own prejudices. 

The records and files of our state government furnish much 
information respecting our early history ; but as they existed 
when I began my researches, a vast amount of patience was 
requisite to obtain it. Those papers were then tied up in hun- 
dreds of small bundles and many of them bore the impress of 
the mob by whom they were trampled, in 1765. At my sug- 
gestion they have been arranged in volumes and furnished with 
an index ; so that future historians will be spared much labor 
to which I was subjected. The papers in other public ofiices, 
and particularly those of the Essex Court, at Salem, merit a 
similar attention. [It would be more exact, perhaps, to speak 
of the papers as the records of the Colonial Courts, as there 
were three distinct jurisdictions within the present county of 
Essex, to wit, the Salem, the Ipswich, and the Norfolk County 
Court jurisdictions, each with different magistrates and clerks.] 
People yet have too little veneration for their ancestors, and 
too little love for their country, or it would have been done 
long ago. The Massachusetts Historical Society, at Boston^ 
merit unbounded gratitude, for the care with which they have 
preserved rare historical books and valuable manuscripts. [And 
the local historian of Essex County has cause for gratitude to 
the Essex Institute, at Salem, for their exertions in rescuing 
many things of interest and importance that were fast sweeping 
down the tide to oblivion.] 

I have given the names of more than three hundred of the 
early settlers, with short sketches of the lives of many. [And 
to these, in the present edition, a large number have been 
added.] I have also" collected the names of many Indian^. '' 



GENERAL EEMARKS. 13 

their sagamores, the fragments of whose history have become 
so interesting. This is the first attempt, in any town, to collect 
the names all the early settlers, with those of the Indians who 
were contemporary with them. I trust that no person who is 
an inhabitant of Lynn, or interested in the details of antiquity, 
will think that I have been too particular. A proper attention 
to dates and minuteness of circumstance, constitutes the charm 
of history. And the actions and manners of men can never 
cease to be interesting. 

[These initiatory remarks of Mr. Lewis have been considered 
by some as giving altogether too deep a coloring to the igno- 
rance that prevailed regarding our fathers, before he undertook 
his work, and as unduly magnifying his own labors. But it is 
eminently true that the public in general were very deficient 
in anything like exact knowledge of our history. And it is 
astonishing how much of that ignorance still exists. Multitudes 
who profess great interest in the study of the past, rest satis- 
fied with knowledge in a most crude and loose form, and find 
themselves quite incompetent to impart anything like accurate 
information to the inquirer. The local historian is perhaps 
most constantly bafiled in pursuing family connections ; for it 
is not uncommon to find respectable people who do not know 
the names of their grandfathers. This will scarcely be believed; 
but any one may relieve himself of doubt by experimenting 
among his neighbors. Those who have had experience like 
that of Mr. Lewis can well comprehend the moving cause of 
his expressions. And any of us would be better employed in 
studying than in criticising his pages. There are, even in this 
introductory chapter, exquisitely beautiful passages enough to 
impart grace to an entire volume.] 

There is something so natural in inquiring into the history 
of those who have lived before us, and particularly of those 
with whom we have any connection, either by the ties of rela- 
tion or place, that it is surprising any one should be found by 
whom the subject is regarded with indifi'erence. In a govern- 
ment like ours, where every man is required to take part in the 
management of public affairs, an acquaintance with the past is 
indispensable to an intelligent discharge of his duties. The 
knr ledge of history was considered so important by the Mon- 
B 



14 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

arch Bard of Israel, that he commenced a soDg of praise for its 
enjoyment. And the relation in which we are placed cannot 
render it less important and interesting to us. To trace the 
settlement and progress of our native town — to read the his- 
tory of the play-place of our early hours, and which has been 
the scene of our maturer joys — to follow the steps of our 
fathers through the course of centuries, and mark the gradation 
of improvement — to learn who and what they were from whom 
we are descended — and still further, to be informed of the 
people who Avere here before them, and who are now vanished 
like a dream of childhood — and all these in their connection 
with the history of the world and of man — must certainly be 
objects of peculiar interest to every inquisitive mind. And 
though, in the pursuit of these objects, we meet with much that 
calls forth the tear of sympathy and the expression of regret, 
we yet derive a high degree of pleasure from being enabled to 
sit with our fathers in the shade of the oaks and pines of " olden 
time," and hear them relate the stories of days which have gone 
by. One of the most useful faculties of the mind is the mem- 
ory ; and history enables us to treasure up the memories of 
those who have lived before us. What would not any curious 
mind give to have a complete knowledge of the Indian race ? 
And what a painful want should we suffer, were the history of 
our fathers a blank, and we could know no more of them than 
of the aborigines ? Our existence might indeed be regarded as 
incomplete, if we could not command the record of past time, 
as well as enjoy the present, and hope for the happiness of the 
future. Reality must ever possess a stronger power over the 
minds of reasonable and reflecting men, than imagination ; and 
though fiction frequently asserts, and sometimes acquires the 
ascendancy, it is generally when she appears dressed in the 
habiliments of probability and historical truth. 

Among the pleasures of the mind, there are few which afford 
more unalloyed gratification than that which arises from the 
remembrance of the loved and familiar objects of home, com- 
bined with the memory of the innocent delights of our child- 
hood. This is one of the few pleasures of which the heart 
cannot be deprived — which the darkest shades of misfortune 
serve to bring out into fuller relief — and which the uninter- 



GENERAL REMARKS. ' 15 

rupted passage of the current of time tends only to polish and 
to brighten. When wearied with the tumult of the world, and 
sick of the anxieties and sorrows of life, the thoughts may 
return with delight to the pleasures of childhood, and banquet 
■ unsated on the recollections of youth. Who does not remem- 
ber the companions of his early years — and the mother who 
watched over his dangers — and the father who counselled 
him — and the teacher who instructed him — and the sister 
whose sweet voice reproved his wildness ? Who does not re- 
member the tree under which , he played — and the house in 
which he lived — and even the moonbeam that slept upon his 
bed? Who has not returned, in sunlight and in sleep, to the 
scenes of his earliest and purest joys ; and to the green and 
humble mounds where his sorrows have gone forth over the 
loved and the lost who were^ dear to his soul? And who does 
not love to indulge these remembrances, though they bring 
swelling tides to his heart and tears to his eyes ? And whose 
ideas are so limited that he does not extend his thoughts to the 
days and the dwellings of his ancestors ; until he seems to 
become a portion of the mountain and the stream, and to pro- 
long his existence through the centuries which are past? 0, 
the love of home 1 it was implanted in the breast of man as a 
germ of hope, that should grow up into a fragrant flower, to 
win his heart from the ambitions and the vanities of his life, 
and woo him back to the innocent delights of his morning 
hours. Sweet Spirit of Home ! thou guardian angel of the 
good ; thou earliest, kindest, latest, friend of man ! how nume- 
rous are thy votaries, how many are the hearts that bow before 
thy sway ! What tears of sorrow hast thou dried ; what tears 
of recollection, of anticipation, of enjoyment, hast thou caused 
to flow? To all bosoms thou art grateful; to all climes conge- 
nial. No heart that is innocent but has a temple for thee ; no 
mind, however depraved, but acknowledges the power which 
presides over thy shrine ! 

The advancement of the American colonies has been unpar- 
alleled in the annals of the world. Two hundred years have 
scarcely circled their luminous flight over this now cultivated 
region, since the most populous towns of New England were a 
wilderness. No sound was heard in the morning but the voice 



16 ' HISTORY OP LYISN. 

of the Indian, and the notes of the wild birds, as they woke 
their early hymn to their Creator ; and at evening, no praise 
went up to heaven, but the desolate howl of the wolf, and the 
sweet but mournful song of the whip-poor-will. The wild powah 
of the savage sometimes broke into the silence of nature, like 
the wailing for the dead ; but the prayer of the Christian was 
never heard to ascend from the melancholy waste. The moun- 
tains that lifted their sunny tops above the clouds, and the 
rivers, which for thousands of miles rolled their murmuring 
waters through the deserts, were unbeheld by an eye which 
could perceive the true majesty of God, or a heart that could 
frame language to his praise. At length the emigrants from 
England arrived, and the western shore of the Atlantic began 
to hear the more cheerful voices of civilization and refinement. 
Pleasant villages were seen in the ^idst of the wide wilderness ; 
and houses for the worship of God, and schools for the instruc- 
tion of children arose, where the wild beast had his lair. The 
men of those days were compelled to endure privations, and to 
overcome difficulties, which exist to us only on the page of his- 
tory. In passing through the forest, if they turned from the 
bear, it was to meet the wolf; and if they fled from the wolf, it 
was to encounter the deadly spring of the insidious catamount. 
At some periods, the planter could not travel from one settle- 
ment to another, without the dread of being shot by the silent 
arrow of the unseen Indian ; nor could his children pursue their 
sports in the shady woods, or gather berries in the green pas- 
tures, without danger of treading on the coiled rattlesnake or 
being carried away by the remorseless enemy. The little ham- 
lets, and the lonely dwellings, which rose, at long intervals, over 
the plains and among the forests, were frequently alarmed by 
the howl of the wolf and the yell of the savage ; and often were 
their thresholds drenched in the blood of the beautiful and the 
innocent. The dangers of those days have passed away, with 
the men who sustained them, and we enjoy the fruit of their 
industry and peril. They have toiled, and fought, and bled for 
our repose. Scarcely a spot of New England can be found, 
which has not been fertilized by the sweat or the blood of our 
ancestors. How greatful should we be to that good Being who 
has bestowed on us the reward of their enterprise 1 



GENEBAL EEMARKS. 'IT 

Historians and poets have written much in commendation of 
the fathers of New England ; but what shall be said in praise 
of those brave, noble, and virtuous women, the mothers of New 
England, who left their homes, and friends, and every thing 
that was naturally dear to them, in a country where every lux- 
ury was at command, to brave the perils of a voyage of three 
thousand miles over a stormy ocean, and the privations of an 
approaching winter, in a country inhabited by savages and wild 
beasts ? If we are under obligation to our fathers, for their 
exertions, we are also indebted to our mothers for their virtues. 

The day on which the May Flower landed her passengers on 
the Rock of Plymouth, was a fatal one for the aborigines of 
America. From that day, the towns of New England began to 
spring up among their wigwams, and along their hunting- 
grounds ; and though sickness, and want, and the tomahawk, 
made frequent and fearful incursions on the little bands of the 
planters, yet their numbers continued to increase, till they have 
become a great and powerful community. It is indeed a pleas- 
ing and interesting employment, to trace the progress of the 
primitive colonies — for each town was in itself a little colony, 
a miniature republic, and the history of one is almost the his- 
tory of all — to behold them contending with the storms and 
inclemencies of an unfriendly climate, and with the repeated 
depredations of a hostile and uncivihzed people, till we find 
them emerging into a state of political prosperity, unsurpassed 
by any nation upon earth. But it is painful to reflect, that in 
the accomplishment of this great purpose, the nations of the 
wilderness, who constituted a separate race, have been nearly 
destroyed. At more than one period, the white people seem to 
have been in danger of extermination by the warlike and exas- 
perated Indians ; but in a few years, the independent Sassacus, 
and the noble Miantonimo, and the princely Pometacora, saw 
their once populous and powerful nations gradually wasting 
away and disappearing. In vain did they sharpen their toma- 
hawks, and point their arrows anew for the breasts of the white 
men. In vain did the valiant Wampanoag despatch his trusty 
warriors two hundred miles across the forest, to invite the Ta- 
ratines to lend their aid in exterminating the English. The 
days of their prosperity had passed away. The time had come 
B* 2 



18 HISTORY OF LYNN. ' 

when a great people were to be driven from the place of their 
nativity — when the long line of sachems, who had ruled over 
the wiiderness for unknown ages, was to be broken, and their 
fires extinguished. Darkness, like that which precedes the 
light of morning, fell over them; and the sunrise of refinenient 
has dawned upon another people. The pestilence had destroyed 
thousands of the bravest of their warriors, and left the remain- 
der feeble and disheartened. Feuds and dissensions prevailed 
among the tribes ; and though they made frequent depredations 
upon the defenseless settlements, and burnt many dwellings, 
and destroyed many lives, yet the immigrants soon became the 
ascendants in number and in power; and the feeble remnant 
of the red men, wearied and exhausted by unsuccessful conflicts, 
relinquished the long possession of their native soil, and retired 
into the pathless forests of the west. 

Much has been written to free the white people from the 
charo-e of ao-o-ression, and much to extenuate the implacabiHty 
of the Indians. We should be cautious in censuring the con- 
duct of men through whose energies we have received many 
of our dearest privileges. And they who condemn the first 
settlers of New England as destitute of all true principle, err 
as much as they who laud their conduct with indiscriminate 
applause. Passionate opinion and violent action were the gen- 
eral faults of their time. And when they saw that one principle 
was overstrained in its effect, they scarcely thought themselves 
safe until they had vacillated to the opposite extreme. Regard- 
ing themselves, like the Israelites, as a peculiar people, they 
imagined that they had a right to destroy the red men as hea- 
then. The arms which at first they took up with the idea that 
they were requisite for self-defense, were soon employed in a 
war of extermination. And the generous mind is grieved to 
think, that instead of endeavoring to conciliate the Indians by 
kindness, they should have deemed it expedient to determine 
their destruction. 

The Indians had undoubtedly good cause to be jealous of the 
arrival of another people, and in some instances to consider 
themselves injured by their encroachments. Their tribes had 
inhabited the wilderness for ages, and the country was their 
home. Here were the scenes of their youthful sports, and here 



GENERAL REMARKS. 19. 

were the graves of their fathers. Here they had lived and 
loved, here they had warred and sung, and grown old Avith the 
hills and rocks. Here they had pursued the deer — not those 
"formed of clouds," like the poetical creations of Ossian — but 
the red, beautiful, fleet-footed creatures of the wilderness; Over 
the glad waters that encircle Nahant, they had bounded in their 
birch canoes ; and in the streams and along the sandy shore, 
they had spread their nets to gather the treasures of the deep. 
Their daughters did not adjust their locks before pierglasses, 
nor copy beautiful stanzas into gilt albums ; but they saw their 
graceful forms reflected in the clear waters, and their poetry 
was written in living characters on the green hills, and the sil- 
ver beach, and the black rocks of Nahant. Their brave sacliems 
wore not the glittering epaulets of modern warfare, nor 'did 
the eagle banner of white men wave in their ranks ; . but the 
untamed eagle of the woods soared over their heads, and be- 
neath their feet Avas the soil of freemen, which had never been 
sullied by the foot of a slave. 

The red men were indeed cruel and implacable in their re- 
venge ; and if history be true, so have white men been in all 
ages. I know of no cruelty practised by Indians, which white 
men have not even exceeded in their refinements of torture. 
The delineation of Indian barbarities presents awful pictures 
of blood ; but it should be remembered that those cruelties were 
committed at a time Avhen the murder of six or eight hundred 
of the red people, sleeping around their own fires, in the silent 
repose of night, Avas deemed a meritorious service. In resist- 
ing to the last, they fought for their country, for freedom, for 
life — they contended for the safety and happiness of their 
wives and children ; for all that brave and high-minded men can 
hold dear. But they were subdued ; and the few who were not 
either killed or made prisoners, sought refuge in, the darker 
recesses of their native woods. The ocean, in which they had 
so often bathed, and the streams which had yielded their boun- 
tiful supplies of fish, were abandoned in silent grief; and the 
free and fearless Indian, who once wandered in all the pride 
of unsubdued nature, over our fields and among our forests, 
was driven from his home, and compelled to look with regret to 
the shores of the sea, and the pleasant abodes of his youth. 



20 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

A few, indeed, continued for some years to linger around the 
shores of their ancient habitations ; but they were like the 
spirits whom the Bard of Morven has described, " sighing in 
the wind around the dwellings of their former greatness." 
They are gone. And over the greater part of New England 
the voice of the Indian is heard no more. We listen in silent 
regret to the last faint echo of their reluctant steps in their 
sorrowful journey over the prairies of the west. We see their 
long and faint shadows cast by the setting sun, as they thread 
the defiles of the Rocky Mountains in their despairing march 
toward the far-off Pacific. A few years, and they may have 
plunged into that ocean from which there is no return, and the 
dweller of a future age may wonder what manner of men they 
were of That they were originally a noble race, is shown by 
the grandeur of their language, and by their mellifluous and 
highly poetical names of places — the yet proud appellations 
of many of our mountains, lakes, and rivers. It would have 
been gratifying to the lover of nature, if all the Indian names of 
places had been preserved, for they all had a meaning, applicable 
to scenery or event. " Change not barbarous names," said the 
Persian sage, " for they are given of God, and have inexpressi- 
ble efiicacy." The names of Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant 
remain ; and may they continue to remain, the imperishable 
memorials of a race which has long since passed away. 

[The thought here expressed, in relation to the language of 
the Indians, is one that seems to have delighted other writers 
as well as Mr. Lewis. But is it not rather fenciful than deep, 
considering that words themselves are arbitrary and valueless 
excepting in their external relations? Any people with know- 
ledge as limited as that of the Indians would necessarily use a 
simple language and one that would be most directly illustrated 
by familiar objects and events. The language of the red men 
abounded in illustrations from nature, and hence to the lover 
of nature possessed many charms, suggesting, it may be, to 
the mind of the cultivated hearer poetical ideas, when none 
existed in the mind of him who used it. Our more extended 
knowledge supplies a language of greater scope, one that con- 
tains all the simplicity and poetry of theirs with the additions that 
flow from science, art, history, and numerous other sources not 



GENERAL REMARKS. 21 

open to them, and hence may not be suggestive of poetical 
ideas alone, but ideas in all other shapes recognized by the 
cultivated mind. How much has been heard of the picturesque 
manner in which the Indians were accustomed to indicate mul- 
titudes, by comparing them to the stars of heaven, the sands on 
the shore, the leaves on the trees, and so forth. But in these ' 
comparisons there was to them no poetical idea involved. Be- 
ing ignorant of arithmetic, actually unable to count, they were 
compelled to resort to some such mode of expression, where 
the white man would have expressed himself in exact terms. 
Again, for example, the Indians called a certain island in Boston 
harbor, The Twins, but the white people called it Spectacle 
Island. In one case the name was drawn from a semblance in 
nature ; in the other,*from a semblance in art. Both are apt 
enough, and about equally poetical. Yet the Indian name has 
been lauded as. expressive and picturesque far above the other.] 
In contemplating the destruction of a great people, the reflect- 
ing mind is naturally disposed to inquire into the causes of their 
decay, in order to educe motives for a better conduct, that their 
wrongs may be in some degree repaired, and a similar fate 
avoided. If dissension weakened the power of the tribes of the 
forest, why should it not impair the energies of our free states ? 
If the red men have fallen through the neglect of moral and 
religious improvement, to make way for a more refined state 
of society, and the emanations of a purer worship, how great is 
the reason to fear that we also may be suffered to wander in 
our own ways, because we will not know the ways of God, and 
to fall into doubt, disunion, and strife, till our country shall be 
given to others, as it has been given to us. He who took the 
sceptre from the most illustrious and powerful of ancient na- 
tions, and caused the tide of their prosperity and refinement to 
flow back and stagnate in the pools of ignorance, obscurity, and 
servitude, possesses ample means to humble the pride of any 
'nation, when it shall cease to be guided by his counsels. Al- 
ready have evils of the most alarming consequences passed far 
on their march of desolation. Already has the spirit of Discord, 
with his dark shadow, dimmed the brightness of our great coun- 
cil fire ! Already has the fondness for strong drink seized on 
thousands of our people, bringing the young to untimely graves, 



22 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

sapping the foundations of health and moral excellence, and 
pulling down the glory of our country. Already has a disregard 
for the Sabbath and for divine institutions, begun openly to 
manifest itself; the concomitant of infidelity, and the harbinger 
of spiritual ruin. If we may trust the appearances in our west- 
ern regions, our land was once inhabited by civilized men, who 
must have disappeared long before the arrival of our fathers. 
May Heaven avert their destiny from us, to evince to the world 
how virtuous a people may be, on whom the blessing of civil 
liberty has fallen as an inheritance. 

The political system of our nation is probably the best which 
was ever devised by man for the common good ; but it practi- 
cally embraces one evil too obvious to be disregarded. While 
it advances the principle that all men have by nature the same 
civil rights, it retains, with strange inconsistency, one sixth 
of the whole population in a state of abject bodily and mental 
servitude. On its own principles, our government has no right 
to enslave any portion of its subjects ; and I am constrained, in 
the name of God and truth to say, that they must be free. 
Christianity and political expediency both demand their eman- 
cipation, nor will they always remain unheard. Many generous 
minds are already convinced of the importance of attention to 
this subject ; and many more might speak in its behalf, in places 
where they could not be disregarded. Where are the ministers 
of our holy religion, that their prayers are not preferred for the 
liberation and enlightenment of men with souls as immortal as 
their own? Where are the senators and representatives of our 
free states, that their voices are not heard in behalf of that 
most injured race ? Let all who have talents, and power, and 
influence, exert them to free the slaves from their wrongs, and 
raise them to the rank and privileges of men. That the colored 
people possess mental powers capable of extensive cultivation, 
has been sufficiently evinced in the instances of Gustavus Vasa, 
Ignatius Sancho, Lislet, Capitein, Fuller, Phillis Wheatley, and 
many others. [And the reader will not fail to recognize many 
note-worthy examples presented through the agency of the 
American rebellion ; examples in which individuals of that op- 
pressed race have exhibited rare judgment, skill, and valor in 
the field ; a clear perception of the principles and responsibilities 



GENERAL REMARKS. 23 

of liberty ; true generosity of character ; ardent longing for 
culture and advancement.] And the period may arrive when 
the lights of freedom and science shall shine mu&h more exten- 
sively on these dark children of bondage — when the knowledge 
of the true faith shall awaken, the nobler principles of their 
minds, and its practice place them in moral excellence far above 
those who are now trampling them in the dust. How will the 
spirit of regret then sadden over the brightness of our country's 
fame, when the muse of History shall lead their pens to trace 
the annals of their ancestors, and the inspiration of Poetry 
instruct their youthful bards to sing the oppression of their 
fathers in the land of Freedom ! 

I trust the time will come, when on the annals of our country 
shall be inscribed the abolition of slavery — when the inhuman 
Custom of war shall be viewed with abhorrence — when human- 
ity shall no longer be outraged by tlie exhibition of capital 
punisliments — when the one great principle of love shall per- 
vade all classes — when the poor shall be furnished with em- 
ployment and ample remuneration — when men shall unite their 
exertions for the promotion of those plans which embrace the 
welfare of the whole — that the unqualified approbation of 
Heaven may be secured to our country, and " that glory may 
dwell in our land." 

[But the unqualified approbation of Heaven can rest only 
where things are done according to the will of Heaven. And 
when will the inhabitants of earth attain to perfect obedience ? 
Had Mr. Lewis lived but a few months longer, he would have 
been startled from his hopeful dreams by the thunders of a war 
more to be deplored, in some respects, than any which ever 
before shook the world — the war of the great American Rebel- 
lion. He would have beheld enlightened myriads, hosts of 
professing Christians, going forth heroically to battle for the 
perpetuation of slavery, and offering up to the God of peace 
thanksgivings for their bloody achievements. And would he 
have seen their evil machinations met in that spirit of universal 
love, so delightful to him to contemplate? Alas, no. He 
would have seen here in Lynn, on the open Common, and on 
the Lord's day, vicegerents of the Prince of peace, whose 
church doors had been closed that they might appear before the 



24 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

multitude to lift up their voices for war — war, as a necessity, to 
shield against evils still more terrible. Blessed were his eyes 
in that they were closed by death without beholding those 
scenes which would at once have swept away all his bright anti. 
cipations, and left him despairing that the time would ever 
arrive when the heart of man would become so sanctified that 
the temporal and selfish would not assert their overwhelming 
power — those scenes which would with force irresistible have 
taught that earth was not the place to search for heaven's 
beatitude.] 

In delineating the annals of a single town, it can scarcely be 
expected that so good an opportunity will be afi'orded for vari- 
ety of description and diffusiveness of remark, as in a work of a 
more general nature. It is also proper to observe that this 
compilation was begun without any view to publication ; but 
simpl}'- to gratify that natural curiosity which must arise in the 
mind of every one who extends his thoughts beyond the per- 
sons and incidents which immediately surround him. I may, 
however, be permitted to hope, that an attempt to delineate 
with accuracy the principal events which have transpired within 
my native town, for the space of two hundred years, will be 
interesting to many, though presented without any endeavor to 
adorn them with the graces of artificial ornament. My endeavor 
has been to ascertain facts, and to state them correctly. I have 
preferred the form of annals for a local history ; for thus every 
thing is found in its time and place. The labor and expense 
of making so small a book has been immense, and can never be 
appreciated by the reader, until he shall undertake to write a 
faithful history of one of our early towns, after its records have 
been lost. I could have written many volumes of romance or 
of general history, while preparing this volume ; and I have 
endeavored to make it so complete, as to leave little for those 
who come after me, except to continue the work. 

[Since Mr. Lewis closed his labors, however, antiquarian 
research has opened many sources of information. It would be 
singular indeed if an enterprising and important community like 
jihat of Lynn, should, during her history of more than two hun- 
dred years, furnish nothing worthy of note beyond what might 
be recorded in an octavo volume of three hundred pages. The 



EARLY VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 25 

present edition will show something of the multitude of inter- 
esting matters that escaped his careful eye. And it is not to 
be doubted that many valuable documents of the olden time yet 
remain in ancient garrets, permeated by herby odors, and per- 
haps at present used by motherly mice as bedding for their 
young, which may somewhere in the future come to light to 
the great joy of the student of the past.] 

It should be remembered that previous to the change of tho 
style, in 1752, the year began in March ; consequently February 
was the twelfth month. Ten days also are to be added to the 
date in the sixteenth century, and eleven in the seventeenth, to 
bring the dates to the present style. Thus, " 12 mo. 25, 1G29," 
instead of being Christmas-day, as some might suppose, would 
be March 8th, 1G30. In the following pages, I have corrected 
the years and months, but have left the days undisturbed. 



EARLY VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 

It would be extremely gratifying, if we could roll back the 
veil of oblivion which shrouds the early history of the American 
continent, and through the sunlight which must once have 
illumined those regions of now impenetrable darkness, behold 
the scenery, and trace the events, which occupied that long 
space of silence or activity. Has one half of this great globe 
slumbered in unprofitable and inglorious repose since the morn- 
ing of the creation, serving no other purpose than to balance 
the opposite portion in its revolutions through unvarying ages ? 
Or has it been peopled by innumerable nations, enjoying all the 
vicissitudes of animal and intehectual life ? [We have the high 
authority of Agassiz for claiming that the American continent is 
the oldest of the great divisions of the globe, and that it existed, 
under its present formation, while Europe was but an extensive 
group of scattered islands. Ever since the coal period America 
has been above water.] 

The most strenuous advocates of the priority of the claim of 
Columbus to the discovery of America, admit that he found 
people here — and we can look back with certainty to no period, 
however remote, in which we do not find the continent inhab- 
ited. How came those people here ? Were they the descend- 
ants of a cis-Atlantic Adam? Or did they find their way, by 
C 



26 HISTOEY OF LYNN. 

accident or design, from the eastern continent? If the latter 
supposition be the more probable, then a corresponding accident 
or design might have returned some of those daring adventur- 
ers to their homes, and thus a knowledge have been conveyed 
of the existence of another continent. Nor are the difficulties 
of a passage, either from Europe or Asia, so great as may at 
first be supposed. The continent of Asia ajiproaches within 
fifty miles of the northwest coast of America; [or, as some nav- 
igators say, within thirty-five miles, either continent being at 
times plainly in sight from the other ;] and ships which traded 
from Iceland to the Levant, might easily have sailed from 
Greenland along the shore of New England. People vv^ere 
much more venturous in early days than we are generally wil- 
ling to allow. And canoes might have passed across the ocean 
from Japan, and even by the isles of the Pacific — as it is evi- 
dent they must have done, to people those islands. When 
Captain Blighe was cast adrift by Christian, he passed twelve 
hundred miles in an open boat with safety. Why might not 
sucli an event have happened three thousand years ago as well 
as yesterday ? 

The Scandinavian manuscripts inform us that in the year 
98G, Eric the Red, an Icelandic prince, emigrated to Greenland. 
In his company was Bardson, whose son Biarne was then on a 
voyage to Norway. On his return, going in search of his father, 
he was driven far to sea, and discovered an unknown country. 
In the year 1000, Leif, a sou of Eric, pursued the discovery of 
the new country, and sailed along the coast as far as Rhode 
Island, where he made a settlement; and because he found 
grapes there, he called it Vmeland. In 1002, Thorwald, his 
brother, went to Vineland, where he remained two years. 

It is very reasonable to suppose that these voyagers, in sail- 
ing along the coast, discovered Lynn, and it is even probable 
that they landed at Nahant. In 1004, Ave are informed that 
Thorwald, leaving Vineland, or Rhode Island, " sailed eastward, 
and then northward, past a remarkable headland, enclosing a 
bay, and which was opposite to another headland. They called 
it Kialarnes, or Keel-cape," from its resemblance to the keel of a 
ship. There is no doubt that this was Cape Cod. Acd as they 
had no map, and could not see Cape Ann, it is probable that the 



EARLY VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 27 

other headland was the Gurnet. " From thencw, they sailed 
along the eastern coast of the land to a promontory which there 
projected — probably Nahant — and which was everywhere cov- 
ered with wood. Here Thorwald went ashore, with all his 
companions. He was so pleased with the place, that he ex- 
claimed — 'Here it is beautiful! and here I should like to fix 
my dwelling ! ' Afterwards, when they were prepared to go on 
board, they observed on the sandy beach, within the promon- 
tory, three hillocks. They repaired thither, and found three 
canoes, and under each three Skrellings, (Indians.) They came 
to blows with them, and killed eight of them, but the ninth 
escaped in his canoe. Afterward a countless multitude of them 
came out from the interior of the bay against them. They 
endeavored to protect themselves by raising battle-screens on 
the ship's side. The Skrellings continued shooting at them for 
a while and then retired. Thorwald had been wounded by an 
arrow under the arm. When he found that the wound was 
mortal, he said, ' I now advise you to prepare for your depar- 
ture as soon as possible ; but me ye shall bring to the promon- 
tory where I thought it good to dwell. It may be that it was 
a prophetic word which fell from my mouth, about my abiding 
there for a season. There ye shall bury me ; and plant a cross 
at my head and also at my feet, and call the place Krossanes — 
[the Cape of the Cross] — in all time coming.' He died, and 
they did as he had ordered ; afterward they returned." (Anti- 
quitates Americanas, xxx.) 

The question has arisen whether Krossanes, was Nahant or 
Gurnet Point. There is nothing remarkable about the latter 
place, and though so long a time has passed, no person has 
thought it desirable to dwell there, but it is used as a sheep 
pasture. It is far otherwise with Nahant, which answers to the 
description well. An early writer saj^s that it was " well 
wooded with oaks, pines, and cedars ; " and it has a " sandy 
beach within the promontory." Thousands also, on visiting it, 
have borne witness to the appropriateness of Thorwald's excla- 
mation — ''Here it is beautiful! and here I should like to fix 
my dwelling ! " ■ 

If the authenticity of the Scandinavian manuscripts be admit- 
ted, the Northmen, as the people of Norway, Denmark, and 



28 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

Sweden are called, visited this country repeatedly, in the elev- 
enth and twelfth centuries ; but if they made any settlements, 
they were probably destroyed in some of the numerous wars 
of the aborigines. The Welch Triads and Chronicles, those 
treasures of historic and bardic lore, inform us, that in 1170, 
Madoc, Prince of Wales, on the tyrannous usurpation of his 
brother David, came to America with a party of his followers, 
and settled a colony. I see no reason to doubt this record — 
but if there were no descendants of Welchmen in America then, 
there are plenty now. [In the language of several of the ancient 
tribes, Welch words were distinctly recognized. It has hence 
been supposed the colonists, by intermarriage, became merged 
in the tribes around them.] 

Alonzo Sanchez, of Huelva, in Spain, in a small vessel with 
seventeen men, as we are informed by De la Vega, was driven 
on the American coast in 1487. He returned with only five 
men, and died at the house of Columbus. 

In 1492, the immortal Columbus made his first voyage to 
South America, but he did not come to North America until 
1498. [Mr, Lewis makes a slight trip here. Columbus, on his 
first voyage, discovered land 11 October, 1492. And that land 
was one of the Bahama islands, which he named St. Salvador. 
On the 28th of the same month he discovered Cuba. Can these 
islands be called in South America?] 

In 1497, Sebastian Cabot, a bold and enterprising English- 
man visited the coast of North America, and took possession 
of it in the name of his king, Henry VII. 

In 1602, Bartholomew Grosnold visited our shores. He dis- 
covered land on Friday, 14 May, at six o'clock in the morning, 
according to Purchas's Pilgrim, vol. 4, p. 1647. Sailing along 
by the shore, at noon, he anchored near a place which he called 
Savage Rock, and which many have supposed to have been 
Nahant. (Bancroft's U. S., vol. 1, p. 112.) A sail-boat went off to 
them, containing eight Indians, dressed in deer-skins, excepting 
their chief, who wore a complete suit of English clothes, which 
he had obtained by trading at the eastward. The Indians 
treated them kindly, and desired their longer stay; but they 
left, about three in the afternoon, (Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. 27.) 
and saiHng southerly, "sixteen leagues," the next morning 



EARLY VOYAGES AND DISCOYERIEa. 29 

they found themselves just within Cape Cod. Archer's account 
of the voyage says, "The Coast we left was full of goodly 
Woods, faire Plaines, with little green, round Hils above the 
Cliffs appearing unto vs, which are indifferently raised, but all 
Rockie, and of shining stones, which might have perswaded vs 
a longer stay there." This answers well to the appearances at 
Nahant; but some have supposed Savage Rock to be some- 
where on the coast of Maine. There is, however, no spot on 
that coast which answers exactly to the description ; and Judge 
Williamson, the historian of Maine, says, " we have doubts 
whether Gosnold ever saw any land of ours. (Hist. Maine, 
vol. 1, p. 185.) [It seems now quite certain that Gosnold an- 
chored at a point not farther east than Cape Ann nor farther 
west than Nahant.] 

In 1603, Martin Pring came over with two vessels, the Speed- 
well and the Discoverer, to obtain medicinal plants. He says, 
" Coming to the Maine, in latitude 43 degrees, Ave ranged the 
same to the southwest. Meeting with no sassafras, we left 
those places, with all the aforesaid islands, shaping our course 
for Savage Rocke, discovered the yeare before by Captain 
Gosnold ; whore, going upon the Mayne, we found people, with 
whom we had no long conversation, because we could find no 
sassafras. Departing thence, we bear into that great gulf, 
(Cape Cod Bay,) which Captain Gosnold overshot the yeare 
before, coasting and finding people on the north side thereof; 
yet not satisfied with our expectation, we left them and sailed 
over, and came to anchor on the south side." (Purchas, vol. 4, 
p. 1654.) Other voyagers, doubtless, visited our coast, but as 
places were unnamed, and the language of the natives unknown, 
little information can be gained from their descriptions. [And 
it is astonishing what absurdities some of the superstitious old 
voyagers were accustomed to relate. Even the comparatively 
late voyager John Josselyn, in his account of an expedition 
hither, gravely asserts that he discovered icebergs on which he 
saw foxes and devils. Had he reflected a moment, he must 
have concluded that the devils, at least, would not have chosen 
such a place for their sports. If he saw any living beings they 
were probably seals. But devils, at that period, were under- 
stood to perform very wonderful exploits, and to have a direct 
C* 



30 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

hand in all sorts of mischief that could harm and tease men. 
Modern culture has relieved the brimstone gentry of most 
of their importance arising from visible interference in human 
affairs. But yet, unnatural events enough are daily transpiring 
to induce the apprehension that they may be still, though cov- 
ertly, pursuing their mischievous enterprises.] 

ITAHANT — GRANT TO CAPTAIN GORGES. 

The next white man who appears at Nahant, [if we consider 
it established that the peninsula was visited by Europeans before 
1614,] was that dauntless hero dnd enterprising statesman Capt. 
John Smith. Having established the colony of Virginia, he 
came north, in 1614, made a survey of the whole coast, and 
published a map. In his description of the islands of Massachu- 
setts Bay, proceeding westward from Naumkeag, now Salem, 
he says, " The next I can remember by name are the Matta- 
hunts, two pleasant Isles of Groves, Gardens and Cornfields, a 
league in the sea from the Maine. The Isles of Mattahunts are 
on the west side of this bay, where are many Isles, and some 
Rocks, that appear a great height above the water, like the 
Pieramides of Egypt." It is evident that by the Mattahunts he 
meant the Nahants, the pronunciation of which, perhaps, he 
imperfectly "remembered." His delineation of these islands on 
the map, though very small, is very correct; and he named 
them the " Fullerton Islands," probably from the name of the 
surveyor, or some other friend. He appears to have examined 
the islands and shores attentively. He says, " The coast of 
Massachusetts is so indifferently mixed with high clay or sandy 
cliffs in one place, and the tracts of large, long ledges of divers 
sorts, and quarries of stones in other places, so strangely divided 
with tinctured veins of divers colours, as free stone for building, 
slate for tyling, smooth stone for making Furnaces and Forges 
for Glasse and Iron, and Iron ore sufficient conveniently to 
melt in them .... who will undertake the rectifying of an 
Iron Forge, in my opinion cannot lose." (Smith's N. E.) As 
the beds of Iron in Saugus had not then been discovered, he 
probably mistook the hornblende ledge on the north of Nahant 
for a mine of iron ore. 

The Nahants appear to have been admired and coveted by 



NAHANT — GEANT TO CAPTAIN GORGES. 31 

all who visited them. On the 20th of December, 1622, we find 
them granted by the Council in England, to Captain Robert 
Gorges. He came over in 1623, took possession of his lands, 
and probably commenced a settlement at Winnisimet, which was 
also included in his grant. The following appears in the Massa- 
chusetts Archives : 

The said Councill grant unto Robert Gorges, youngest son of Sir Fernando 
Gorges, Kuight, and liis lieii-es, all that part of the Maine land in New Eng- 
land, commonly called and knowii by the name of the Massachusetts, scytuate 
and lyeing vpon the North East side of the Bay, called and known by the 
name of the Massachusetts, or by Avhatever name or names whatsoever called, 
with all coastes and shoares along the Sea for Ten English miles iu a straight 
line towards the North East, accounting seventeen hundred and sixty yards to 
the mile ; and 30 English miles, after the same rate, into the Mayne Laud, 
through all the breadth aforesaid ; togeather Avith all Islands so lyeing within 
3 miles of any part of the said land. 

Robert Gorges dyes without issue ; the said lands descend to Jolm Gorges, 
his eldest brother. John Gorges by deed bearing date 20 Januaiy, 1628-9, 
(4 Car. I.) grants to Su- William Brereton, of Handforth, iu the County of 
Chester, Baronet, and his heii-es, all the lande, in breadth, lyeinge from the 
East side of Charles River to the Easterly parte of the Cape called Nahannte, 
and all the lands lyeinge in length 20 miles northeast into the Mame land from 
the mouth of the said Charles River, lyeinge also iu length 20 miles into the 
Maine land from the said Cape Nahannte : also two Islands lyeiuge next unto 
the slioare between Nahannte and Charles River, the bigger called Brereton, 
and the lesser Susanna. [East Boston and Belle Isle.] 

Sir William Brereton dyes, leaving Thomas, his only son, aftenvard Sir 
Thomas, and Susanna his daughter. Su* Thomas dyes without issue. Su- 
sanna marries Edward Lenthall, Esq. aud dyes, leaAing Maiy, her only daugh- 
ter and heire. JNIaiy is married to Mr. Leavitt of the Inner Temple, who 
claymcs the said Lands in right of IMaiy his wife, who is heu-e to Sir William 
Brereton and Sir Thomas Brereton. 

Sir William Brereton sent over Sevei-all familyes and Sei-vants, who pos- 
sessed and Improved severall Large tracts of the said Lands, and made Severall 
Leases, as appeares by the said deedes. 

A portion of these lands was granted by Captain Gorges to 
John Oldham, including Nahant and part of Saugus. In a let- 
ter from the Council in England to Governor Endicott, dated 
17 April, 1629, we find as follows: "Mr. Oldham's grant from 
Mr. Gorges, is to him and John Dorrel, for all the lands within 
Massachusetts Bay, between Charles River and Abousett River; 
Containing in length by streight lyne 5 Miles vp the Charles 
River into the Maine Land, northeast from the border of said 



32 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

Bay, including all Creekes and Points by the way, and 3 Myles 
in Length from the Mouth of the aforesaid River Abousett, vp 
into the Maine Land N. W. including all Creekes and Points, 
and all the Land in Breadth and Length between the foresaid 
Rivers, with all prerogatives, royall Mynes excepted. (Haz- 
ard's Collections.) The writer of this letter, in reference to 
the claim of Oldham, says, " I hold it void in law," and advises 
Mr Endicott to take possession. Such possession was taken 
of the Nahants, as will be seen in proceeding ; and though the 
heirs of Gorges afterward renewed their claim, the colony de- 
clined either to relinquish or pay ; because Gorges, after being 
appointed to the government, had relinquished the possession 
and returned to England. 

THE INDIANS. 

Before proceeding with the history of the Whites, it will be 
interesting to learn something more respecting the Red Men. 

The emigrants from England found the country inhabited by 
a people who were called Indians, because when first discovered 
the country was supposed to be a part of India. They were 
divided into several great nations, each of which consisted of 
many tribes. Lechford says, " They were governed by sachems, 
kings and sagamores, petty lords;" but Smith, who was here 
before him, calls them " sagamos ; " and as the Indians, in this 
neighborhood at least, had no R in their language, he is probably 
correct. The word sachem, pronounced sawhum by the Indians, 
is a word meaning great strength, or power; and the word 
sachemo, or sagamo, evidently has the same derivation. Their 
plural was formed in uog; Sagamore Hill, therefore, is the 
same as Sachemuog Hill, or the Hill of Kings. 

There appear to have been as many as seven nations in New 
England. The ever-warring Taratines inhabited the eastern 
part of Maine, beyond the Penobscot river; and their great 
sachem was Nultonanit. From the Penobscot to the Piscata- 
qua were the Chur-churs, formerly governed by a mighty chief, 
called a Bashaba. The Pawtuckets had a great dominion, 
reaching from the Piscataqua to the river Charles, and extend- 
ing north as far as Concord on the Merrimac. Their name is 
preserved in Pawtucket Falls, at Lowell. They were governed 



THE INDIANS. 33 

by Nanapasbemet, who sometime lived at Lynn, and, according 
to Gookin, could raise three thousand warriors. The Mas- 
sachusetts, so named from the Blue Hills at Milton, were gov- 
erned by Chickataubut, who also commanded three thousand 
men. His dominion was bounded on the north and west by 
Charles river, and on the south extended to Weymouth and 
Canton. The Wampanoags occupied the southeastern part of 
Massachusetts, from Cape Cod to Nari-aganset Bay. They were 
ruled by Massasoit, whose chief residence was at Pokanoket, 
now Bristol, in Rhode Island. He was a sachem of great 
power, having dominion over thirty-two tribes, and could have 
brought three thousand warriors into the field, by a word ; yet 
he was a man of peace, and a friend to the English, and during 
all the provocations and disturbances of that early period, he 
governed his nation in tranquillity for more than forty years, 
leaving an example of wisdom to future ages. The Narragan- 
sets, on the west of Narraganset Bay, in Rhode Island, num- 
bered five thousand warriors, and were governed by two 
sachems, Canonicus and his nephew Miantonimo, who ruled 
together in harmony. The Pequots occupied Connecticut, and 
were governed by Sassacus, a name of terror, who commanded 
four thousand fighting men, and whose residence was at New 
London. Besides these, there were the Nipmucks in the interior 
of Massachusetts, who had no great sachem, but united with 
the other nations in their wars, according to their inclination. 
The Pequots and the Taratines were ever at war with some 
of the other nations, and were the Goths and Vandals of abo- 
riginal New England. 

The Indians were very numerous, until they were reduced 
by a great war, and by a devastating sickness. All the early 
voyagers speak of " multitudes," and '' countless multitudes." 
Smith, who took his survey in 1614, passing along the shore in 
a little boat, says, " The seacoast as you pass, shows you all 
along, large come fields, and great troupes of well proportioned 
people ;" and adds that there were three thousand on the islands 
in Boston harbor. Gookin has enumerated eighteen thousand 
warriors in five nations, and if the remainder were as populous, 
there must have been twenty-five thousand fighting men, and 
at least one hundred thousand people, in New England. [But 

3 



34 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

could that be called a large population for such an extent of 
territory ? a population equal to but half that of Boston at this 
time. Nomadic and all unsettled branches of our race are 
usually small in numbers. And the stories told by some of the 
early comers, so magnifying the Indian populations, are no 
more worthy of credit than the fanciful chapters of those mod- 
ern writers who laud their virtues to a degree hardly within 
the range of mortal attainment. A page or two hence it is 
stated that Sagamore James resided at Lynn. He was a ruler 
of some note. And yet, as further evidence that there could 
have been but a small Indian population hereabout, at that time, 
it may be added that Rev. Mr. Higginsou says that he command- 
ed " not above thirty or forty-men, for aught I can learn."] In 
the spring of 1615, some provocation was given by the western 
Indians to the Taratines, who, with a vindictive spirit, resolved 
upon retaliation ; and they carried their revenge to an extent 
scarcely paralleled in the dreadful history of human warfare. 
They killed the great Bashaba of Penobscot, murdered his 
women and children, and overran the whole country from Pe- 
nobscot to the Blue Hills. Their death-word was " cram 1 
cram!"— kill! kill! — and so effectually did they "suit the 
action to the word," and so many thousands on thousands did 
they slaughter, that, as Gorges says, it was '-'horrible to be 
spoken of" In 1617, commenced a great sickness, which some 
have supposed was the plague, others the small pox or yellow 
fever. This sickness made such dreadful devastation among 
those whom the tomahawk had not reached, that when the Eng 
lish arrived, the land was literally covered with human bones. 
Still the vengeance of the Taratines was unsatiated, and we 
find them hunting for the lives of the few sagamores who 
remained. 

Nanapashemet, or the New Moon, was one of the greatest 
sachems in New England, ruling over a larger extent of country 
than any other. He swayed, at one time, all the tribes north 
and east of the Charles river, to the river Piscataqua. The 
Nipmucks acknowledged his dominion, as far as Pocoutocook, 
now Deerfield, on the Connecticut; and after his death they 
had no great sachem. (Smith, Gookin, Hubbard. See also 
Samuel G. Drake's interesting Book of the Indians, wherein he 



THE INDIANS. 35 

has accumulated a vast amount of facts i-especting the Sons of 
the Forest.) Nanapashemet, like the orb of night, whose name 
he bore, had risen and shone in splendor. But his moon was 
now full, and had begun to wane. He resided at Lynn until 
the great war of the Taratines, in 1G15. He then retreated 
to a hill on the borders of Mistick river, where he built a 
house, and fortified himself in the best manner possible. He 
survived the desolating sickness of 1617; but the deadly ven- 
geance of the Taratines, which induced them to stop at nothing 
short of his death, pursued him to his retreat, and there he was 
killed by them in 1619. In September, 1621, a party of the 
Plymouth people, having made a visit to Obatinua, sachem of 
Boston, went up to Medford. Mr. Winslow says, "Having 
gone three miles, we came to a place where corn had been 
newly gathered, a house pulled down, and the people gone. 
A mile from hence, Nanapashemet, their king, in his lifetime 
had lived. His house was not like others ; but a scaffold was 
largely built, with poles and planks, some six foot from the 
ground, and the house upon that, being situated upon the top 
of a hill. Not far from hence, in a bottom, we came to a fort, 
built by their deceased king — the manner thus: There were 
poles, some thirty or forty feet long, stuck in the ground, as 
thick as they could be set one by another, and with those they 
enclosed a ring some forty or fifty feet over. A trench, breast 
high, was digged on each side ; one way there was to get into 
it with a bridge. In the midst of this palisade stood the frame 
of a house, wherein, being dead, he lay buried. About a mile 
from hence we came to such another, but seated on the top 
of a hill. Here Nanapashemet was killed, none dwelling in it 
since the time of his death." The care which the great Moon 
Chief ^ took to fortify himself, shows the fear which he felt for 
his mortal enemy. With his death, the vengeance of the Tara- 
tines seems in some degree to have abated ; and his sons, re- 
turning to the shore, collected the scattered remnants of their 
tribes, over whom they ruled as sagamores on the arrival of our 
fathers. The general government was continued by the saunks, 
or queen of Nanapashemet, who was called Squaw Sachem. 
She married Webbacowet, who was the great physician of her 
nation. On the fourth of September, 1640, she sold Mistick 



36 mSTOEY OF LYNN. 

Ponds and a large tract of land now included in Somerville, to 
Jotbam Gibbons, of Boston. On tbe eigbtb of Marcb, 1644, sbe 
submitted to tbe government of tbe wbites, and consented to 
have her subjects instructed in tbe Bible. Sbe died in 1667, 
being then old and blind. Nanapasbemet bad three sons — 
Wonobaquabam, Montowampate, and Wenepoykin, all of whom 
became sagamores ; and a daughter Yawata. 

WoNOHAQUAHAM, was sagamorc on Mistick river, including 
Winnisimet. In 1627 he gave the whites liberty to settle at 
Cbarlestown, and on the records of that town he is called a 
chief " of gentle and good disposition." He was called by 
the English, John, and died in 1633, according to tbe best 
authorities. 

Montowampate, sagamore of Lynn, was born in the year 
1609. He lived on Sagamore Hill, near tbe northern end of 
Long Beach. He had jurisdiction of Saugus, Naumkeag, and 
Masabequash ; or Lynn, Salem, and Marblehead. He was called 
by tbe white people, James. Mr. Dudley in his letter to tbe 
Countess of Lincoln, says, '' Vppon the river of Mistick is seated 
Saggamore John, and vppon tbe river of Saugus Sagamore 
James, both soe named from tbe English. Tbe elder brother, 
John, is a handsome young .... (one line wanting) .... 
conversant with us, affecting English apparel and houses, and 
speaking well of our God. His brother James is of a far worse 
disposition, yet repaireth to us often." He married Wenuclms, 
a daughter of Passaconaway, the great powab, or priest of the 
nation, whose chief residence was at Penacook, now Concord, 
on the Merrimac. This venerable, and in some respects won- 
derful man, died about tbe year 1673, when he was oue hundred 
and twenty years of age. On his death bed, he called his friends 
around, and told them that he was going to the land of spirits, 
to see them no more. He said he had been opposed to tbe 
English at their first coming, and sought to prevent their settle- 
ment ; but now he advised them to oppose tbe white men no 
more, or they would all be destroyed. Tbe marriage of Monto- 
wampate took place in the year 1629, when he was twenty 
years of age ; and it gave him an opportunity to manifest bis 
high sense of tbe dignity which appertained to a sachem. 
Thomas Morton, who was in tbe country at the time, and wrote 



THE INDIANS. 37 

a work entitled the New English Canaan, furnishes ns witji the 
following interesting particulars : 

The sachem or sagamore of Sagus, made choice, when he came to man's 
estate, of a lady of noble descent, daughter of Papasiquineo, the sachem or 
sagamore of the temtories near Men-imaek river ; a man of the best note in 
all those parts, and, as my comiti-jnian, JMr. Wood, declares, in his Prospect, 
a gi*eat nigi-omancer. This lady, the young sachem, with the consent and 
good liking of her father, marries, and takes for his wife. Great entei'tainment 
hee and his received in those parts, at her father's hands, wheare they were 
fested in the best manner that might be expected, according to the custome 
of their nation, with reveling, and such other solemnities as is usual amongst 
them. The solemnity being ended, Papasiquineo caused a selected number 
of his men to waite on his daughter home mto those parts that did properly 
belong to her lord and husband; where the attendants had enteitaiumeut by 
the sachem of Sagus and his countrymen. The solemnity being ended, the 
attendants were gratified. 

Not long after, the new married lady had a gi-eat deshe to see her father 
and her native countiy, from whence she came. Her lord was willing to 
pleasure her, and not deny her request, amongst them thought to be reason- 
able, commanded a select number of his own men to conduct liis lady to her 
father, where mth great respect they brought her ; and having feasted there 
awhile, retm'ned to theu* own country agame, leaving the lady to contmue 
there at her owne pleasure, amongst her friends and old acquaintance, where 
she passed away the time for awhile, and in the end desked to returne to her 
lord againe. Her father, the old Papasiquineo, having notice of her intent, 
sent some of his men on ambassage to the young sachem, his.sonne in law, to 
let him imderstand that his daughter Avas not willmg to absent herself from 
his company any longer; and therefore, as the messengers had jji charge, 
desu-ed the young lord to send a convoy for her; but he, standing upon 
teamies of honor, and the maintainmg of his reputation, returned to his father 
in law this answer : " That when she departed from him, hee caused liis men 
to waite upon her to her fathei's territories as it did become him ; but now she 
had an intent to returne, it did become her father to send her back with a 
convoy of his owTi people ; and that it stood not with his reputation to make 
himself or his men so sei-vile as to fetch her againe." 

The old sachem Papasiquineo, having this message returned, was inraged 
to think that his young son in law did not esteem him at a higher rate than to 
capitulate with him about the matter, and returned him this sharp reply: 
" That his daughter's blood and birth desen-ed more respect than to be slighted, 
and tliercfore, if he would have her company, he were best to send or come 
for her." 

The young sachem, not willing to unden^alue himself, and being a man of a 
stout spu-it, did not stick to say, " That he shoiUd either send her by his o^vn 
convoy, or keepe her ; for he was determined not to stoope so lowe." 

So much these two sachems stood upon tearmes of reputation with each 
other, the one would not send for her, lest it should be anv diminishing of 

D 



I 



38 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

honor on his part that should seeme to comply, that the lady, when I came 
out of the country, reniamed still vnth. her father ; which is a thuig worth the 
noting, that salvage people should seek to maiutaine theh* reputation so much 
as they doe. 

A chief who could treat a lady so discourteously deserved to 
lose her. Montowampate had not the felicity to read the Fairy 
Queen, or he would have thought with Spenser : 

" What vertue is so fitting for a Knight, 
Or for a Ladie whom a linight should love, 
As cmtesie." 

My lady readers will undoubtedly be anxious to know if the 
separation was final. I am happy to inform them that it was 
not ; as we find the Princess of Penacook enjoying the luxuries 
of the shores and the sea breezes at Lynn, the next summer. 
How they met withott compromiting the dignity of the proud 
sagamore, history does not inform us ; but probably, as ladies 
are fertile in expedients, she met him half way. In 1631 she 
was taken prisoner by the Taratines, as will hereafter be related. 
Montowampate died in 1633. Wenuchus returned to her father; 
and in 1686, we find mention made of her grand-daughter Pah- 
pocksit. Other interesting incidents in the life of Montowam- 
pate will be found in the following pages. 

Wenepoykin, erroneously called Winnepurkit, was the young- 
est son^of Nanapashemet. His name was pronounced with an 
accent and a lingering on the third syllable, We-ne-pawwe-kin. 
He was born in 1616, and was a little boy, thirteen years of age, 
when the white men came. The Rev. John Higginson, of Salem, 
says : '' To the best of my remembrance, when I came over with 
my father, to this place, there was in these parts a widow wo- 
man, called Squaw Sachem, who had three sons ; Sagamore 
John kept at Mistick, Sagamore James at Saugus, and Sagamore 
George here at Naumkeke. Whether he was actual sachem 
here I cannot say, for he was then young, about my age, and I 
think there was an elder man that was at least his guardian." 
On the death of his brothers, in 1633, he became sagamore of 
Lynn and Chelsea; and after the death of his mother, in 1667, 
he was sachem of all that part of Massachusetts which is north 
and east of Charles river. He was the proprietor of Deer 
Island, which he sold to Boston. He was called Sagamore 



THE INDIANS. 39 

George, and George Rumne}^ Marsb; [also Sagamore George 
No-Nose.] Until the year 1738, the limits of Boston extended 
to Saugus, including Chelsea, which was called Rumney Marsh. 
Part of this great marsh is now in Chelsea and part in Saugus. 
The Indians living on the borders of this marsh in Lynn and 
Saugus, were sometimes called the Rumney Marsh Indians. 
Weijepoykin was taken prisoner in the Wampanoag war, in 
1G76, and died in 1G84. He married Ahawayet, daughter of 
Poquanum, who lived on Nahant, She presented him with one 
son, Mauatahqua, and three daughters, Petagunsk, Wattaquat- 
tinusk, and Petagoonaquah, who, if early historians are correct 
in their descriptions, were as beautiful, almost, as the lovely 
forms which have wandered on the rocks of Nahant in later 
times. They were called Wanapanaqnin, or the plumed ones. 
This word is but another spelling of Wenepoykin, their father's 
name, which signifies a wing, or a feather. I suppose they were 
the belles of the forest, in their day, and wore finer plumes than 
any of their tribe. Petagunsk was called Cicely. [In the In- 
dian deed of Lynn, she is described as '' Cicily alias Su George, 
the reputed daughter of old Sagamore George No-Nose."] She 
bad a son Tontoquon, called John. Wattaquattinusk, or the 
Little Walnut, was called Sarah; and Petagoonaquah was named 
Susanna. Manatahqua had two sons, Nonupanohow, called Da- 
vid [Kunkshamooshaw] and Wuttanoh, which means a staff, 
called Samuel. Tlie family of Wenepoykin left Lynn about 
the time of the Wampanoag war, and went to Wameset, or 
Chelmsford, now Lowell, where they settled near Pawtucket 
falls. On the IGth of September, 1684, immediately after the 
death of Wenepo3'kin, the people of Marblehead embraced the 
opportunity of obtaining a deed of their town. It was signed 
by Ahawayet, and many others, her relatives. She is called 
" Joane Ahawayet, Squawe, relict, widow of George Saggamore, 
alias Wenepawweekin." (Essex Reg. Deeds, 11, 132.) She 
survived her husband about a year, and died in 1G85. On the 
19th of March, 1G85, David Nonupanohow, 'Mieir of Sagamore 
George, and in his right having some claim to Deer Island, doth 
hereby, for just consideration, relinquish his right, to the town 
of Boston." (Suffolk Records.) On the 11th of October, 1G86, 
the people of Salem obtained a deed of their town, which was 



40 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

signed by the relatives of Wenepoykin. [And on the 4i,li of 
September, of the same year, the people of Lynn likewise ob- 
tained a deed of their territory, from the heirs of Wenepoykin, 
a copy of which may be found on page 51, et seq.] 

Yaw ATA, daughter of Nanapashemet, and sister of the three 
sagamores, married Oonsumog. She lived to sign the deed of 
Salem, in 1686, and died at Natick. She had a son, Mumin- 
quash, born in 1636, and called James Rumney Marsh, who also 
removed to Natick. There is great softness and euphony in the 
name of this Indess. Ya-wa-ta ; six letters, and only one hard 
consonant. Probably her heart was as delicate and feminine as 
h«r name. The early settlers indicated their poetic taste by 
calling her Abigail. [The wife of David Kunkshamooshaw, who 
was a grandson of Yawata's brother Wenepoykin, was also 
called Abigail. This last was the Abigail who signed the deed 
of Lynn. And it seems as if Mr. Lewis may have confounded 
the two Abigails. Yet, Yawata might have signed the Salem 
deed, in 1686, though she must then have been quite old.] 

PoQUANUM, or Dark Skin, was sachem of Nahaut. Wood, in 
his New England's Prospect, calls him Duke William; and it 
appears by depositions in Salem Court Records, that he was 
known by the familiar appellation of Black Will. He was con- 
temporary with Nanapashemet. In 1630 he sold Nahant to 
Thomas Dexter for a suit of clothes. It is probable that he 
was the chief who welcomed Gosnold, in 1602, and who is 
represented to have been dressed in a complete suit of English 
clothes. If he were the same, that may have been the reason 
why he was so desirous to possess another suit. He was killed 
in 1633, as will be found under that date. He had two chil- 
dren — Ahawayet, who married Wenepoykin; and Queakussen, 
commonly called Captain Tom, or Thomas Poquanum, who 
was born in 1611. Mr. Grookin, in 1686, says, " He is an Indian 
of good repute, and professeth the Christian religion." Probably 
he is the one alluded to by Rev. John Eliot, in his letter, No- 
vember 13, 1649, in which he says : '' Linn Indians are all naught, 
save one, who sometimes cometh to hear the word, and telleth 
me that he prayeth to God ; and the reason why they are bad 
is partly and principally because their sachem is naught, and 
careth not to pray to God." There is a confession of faith, 



THE INDIANS. 41 

preserved in Eliot's "Tears of Repentance," by Poquanum, 
probably of this same Indian. He signed the deed of Salem in 
1686, and on the 17th of September, in that year, he gave the 
following testimony : " Thomas Queakussen, alias Captain Tom, 
Indian, now living at Wamesit, neare Patucket Falls, aged about 
seventy-five years, testifieth and saith. That many yeares since, 
when he was a youth, he lived with his father, deceased, named 
Poquannum, who some time lived at Sawgust, now called Linn ; 
he married a second Avife, and lived at Nahant ; and himself in 
after time lived about Mistick, and that he well knew all these 
parts about Salem, Marblehead and Linn ; and that Salem and 
the river running up between that neck of land and Bass river 
was called Naumkeke, and the river between Salem and Marble- 
head was called Massabequash ; also he says he well knew 
Sagamore George, who married the Deponent's Owne Sister, 
named Joane, who died about a yeare since ; and Sagamore 
George left two daughters, name Sicilye and Sarah, and two 
grand-children by his son ; Nonumpanumhow the one called 
David, and the other "Wuttanoh ; and I myself am one of their 
kindred as before ; and James Rumney Marsh's mother is one 
of Sagamore George his kindred; and I knew two squawes 
more living now about Pennecooke, one named Pahpocksitt, 
and the other's name I know not ; and I knew the grandmother 
of these two squawes named Wenuchus ; she was a principal 
proprietor of these lands about Naumkege, now Salem; all 
these persons above named are concerned in the antient pro- 
perty of the lands above mentioned." Wabaquin also testified, 
that David was the grandson of Sagamore George — by his 
father, deceased Manatahqua. (Essex Reg. Deeds, 11, 131.) 

Nahanton was born about the year 1600. On the 7th of April, 
1635, Nahanton was ordered by the Court to pay Rev. William 
Blackstone, of Boston, two beaver skins, for damage done to 
his swine by setting traps. In a deposition taken at Natick, 
August 15, 1672, he is called " Old Ahaton of Punkapog, aged 
about seaventy yeares;" and in a deposition at Cambridge, 
October 7, 1686, he is called " Old Mahanton, aged about ninety 
years." In the same deposition he is called Nahanton. He 
testifies concerning the right of the heirs of Wenepoykin to 
sell the lands of Salem, and declares himself a relative of Saga- 
D- 



42 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

more George. He signed the deed of Quincy, August 5, 1665, 
and in that deed is called " Old Nahatun," one of the " wise 
men " of Sagamore "Wampatuck. He also signed a quit-claim 
deed to ''the proprietated inhabitants of the town of Boston," 
March 19, 1685. (Suffolk Records.) 

QuANOPKONAT, called John, was another relative of Wenepoy- 
kin. His widow Joan, and his son James, signed the deed of 
Salem, in 1686. Masconomo was sagamore of Agawam, now 
Ipswich. Dudley says, " he was tributary to Sagamore James.". . 
From the intimacy which subsisted between them, he was prob- 
ably a relative. He died March 8, 1658, and his gun and other 
implements were buried with him. (Felt's Hist. Ipswich.) 

The names of the Indians are variously spelled in records 
and depositions, as they were imperfectly understood from their 
nasal pronunciation. Some of them were known by different 
names, and as they had no baptism, or ceremony of naming 
their children, they commonly received no name until it was 
fixed by some great exploit, or some remarkable circumstance. 

The Indians have*been admirably described by William "Wood, 
who resided at Lynn, at the first settlement. " They were black 
haired, out nosed, broad shouldered, brawny armed, long and 
slender handed, out breasted, small waisted, lank bellied, well 
thighed, flat kneed, handsome grown legs, and small feet. In a 
word, they were more amiable to behold, though only in Adam's 
livery, than many a compounded fantastic in the newest fash- 
ion." In another place he speaks of " their unparalleled beauty." 
Josselyn, in his New England Rarities, says: " The women, many 
of them, have very good features, seldome without a come-to-me 
in their countenance, all of them black eyed, having even, short 
teeth and very white, their hair black, thick and long, broad 
breasted, handsome, straight bodies and slender, their limbs 
cleanly, straight, generally plump as a partridge, and saving 
now and then one, of a modest deportment." Lechford says : 
" The Indesses that are young, are some of them very comely, 
having good features. Many prettie Brownettos and spider 
fingered lasses may be seen among them." After such graphic 
and beautiful descriptions, nothing need be added to complete 
the idea that their forms were exquisitely perfect, superb, and 
voluptuous. [But is not this superlative language, as applied 



THE INDIANS. , 43 

to Indian squaws, rather intense? Mr. Lewis, however, is well 
known to have entertained more than ordinary veneration for 
the aborigines. It is believed that a more just estimate may- 
be found in the volume published here in 1862, under the title 
" Lin : or, Jewels of the Third Plantation."] 

The dress of the men was the skin of a deer or seal tied round 
the waist, and in winter a bear or wolf skin thrown over the 
shoulders, with moccasons or shoes of moose hide. The women 
wore robes of beaver skins, with sleeves of deer skin drest, and 
drawn with lines of different colors into ornamental figures. 
Some wore a short mantle of trading cloth, blue or red, fastened 
with a knot under the chin, and girt around the waist with a 
zone ; their buskins fringed with feathers, and a fillet round 
their heads, which were often adorned with plumes. 

Their money was made of shells, gathered on the beaches, 
and was of two kinds. The one was called wampum-peag, or 
white money, and was made of the twisted part of the cockle 
strung together like beads. Six of these passed for a penny, 
and a foot for about a shilling. The other was called suckauhoc, 
or black money, and was made of the hinge of the poquahoc 
clam, bored with a sharp stone. The value of this money was 
double that of the white. These shells were also very curiously 
wrought into pendants, bracelets, and belts of wampum, several 
inches in breadth and several feet in length, with figures of 
animals and flowers. Their sachems were profusely adorned 
with it, and some of the princely females wore dresses worth 
fifty or a hundred dollars. It passed for beaver and other 
commodities as currently as silver. 

Their weapons were bows, arrows and tomahawks. Their 
bows were made of walnut, or some other elastic wood, and 
strung with sinews of deer or moose. Their arrows were made 
of elder, and feathered with the quills of eagles. They were 
headed with a long, sharp stone of porphyry or jasper, tied to a 
short stick, which was thrust into the pith of the elder. Their 
tomahawks were made of a flat stone, sharpened to an edge, 
with a groove round the middle. This was inserted in a bent 
walnut stick, the ends of which were tied together. The flinty 
heads of their arrows and axes, their stone gouges and pestles, 
have been frequently found in the fields. 



44 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

Their favorite places of residence hereabout, appear to have 
been in the neighborhood of Sagamore Hill and High Rock, at 
Swampscot and Nahant. One of their burial places was on the 
hill near the eastern end of Mount Vernon street. In Saugus, 
many indications of their dwellings have been found on the 
old Boston road, for about half a mile from the hotel, westward ; 
and beneath the house of Mr. Ephraim Rhodes was a burying 
ground. On the road which runs north from Charles Sweetser's, 
was another Indian village on a plain, defended by a hill. Na- 
ture here formed a lovely spot, and nature's children occupied 
it. [The localities here referred to lie between East Saugus 
and Cliftondale.] They usually buried their dead on the sides 
of hills next the sun. This was both natural and beautiful. It 
was the wish of Beattie's Minstrel. 

" Wliere a green grassy turf is all I crave, 
And many an evening sun shine svs^eetly on my grave." 

The Indians had but few arts, and only such as were requisite 
for their subsistence. Their houses, called wigwams, were rude 
structures, made of poles set round in the form of a cone, and 
covered by bark or mats. In winter, one great house, built 
with more care, with a fire in the middle, served for the accom- 
modation of many. They had two kinds of boats, called canoes ; 
the one made of a pine log, twenty to sixty feet in length, burnt 
and scraped out with sheHs; the other made of birch bark, very 
light and elegant. They made fishing lines of wild hemp, equal 
to the finest twine, and used fish bones for hooks. Their meth- 
od of catching deer was by making two fences of trees, half a 
mile in extent, in the form of an angle, with a snare at the place 
of meeting, in which they frequently took the deer alive. 

'T'heir chief objects of cultivation were corn, beans, pumpkins, 
squashes and melons, which were all indigenous plants. Their 
fields were cleared by burning the trees in the autumn. Their 
season for planting was when the leaves of the oak were as 
large as the ear of a mouse. From this observation was formed 
'the rule of the first settlers. 

When the white oak trees look goslin gray, 
Plant then, bie it April, June, or ]May. 

The corn was hoed with large clam shells, and harvested in 
cellars dug in the ground, and enclosed with mats. When 



THE INDIANS. 45 

boiled in kernels it was called samp ; when parched and pound- 
ed in stone mortars it was termed nokehike ; and when pounded 
and boiled, it was called hominy. They also boiled corn and 
beans together, which they called succatash. They formed 
earthen vessels in which they cooked. They made an excellent 
cake by mixing strawberries with parched corn. Whortleberries 
were employed in a similar manner. Some of their dishes are 
still well known and highly relished — their samp, their hominy 
or hasty pudding, their stewed beans or succatash, their baked 
pumpkins, their parched corn, their boiled and roast ears of 
corn, and their whortleberry cake -^ dishes which, when well 
prepared, are good enough for any body. And when to these 
were added the whole range of field and flood, at a time when 
wild fowl and venison were more than abundant, it will be seen 
that the Indians lived well. 

Tiic woods were filled with wild animals — foxes, bears, 
wolves, deer, moose, beaver, racoons, rabbits, woodchucks, and 
squirrels — most of which have long since departed. One of 
the most troublesome animals was the catamount, one of the 
numerous varieties of the cat kind, which has never been par- 
ticularly described. It was from three to six feet in length, 
and commonly of a cinnamon color. Many stories are related 
of its attacks upon the early settlers, by climbing trees and 
leaping upon them when traveling through the forest. An 
Indian in passing; through the woods one day, heard a rustling 
in the boughs overhead, and looking up, saw a catamount pre- 
paring to spring upon him. He said he " cry all one soosuck" — 
that is, like a child — knowing that if he did not kill the cata- 
mount, he must lose his own life. He fired as the animal was 
in the act of springing, which met the .ball and fell dead at 
his feet. 

The wild pigeons are represented to have been so numerous 
that they passed in flocks so large as to " obscure the light." 
Dudley says, " it passeth credit if but the truth should be 
known ; " and Wood says, they continued flying for four or 
five hours together, to such an extent that one could see " nei- 
ther beginning nor ending, length nor breadth, of these millions 
of millions." When they alighted in the woods, they frequently 
broke down large limbs of trees by their weight, and the crash- 



46 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

ing was heard at a great distance. A single family has been 
known to have killed more than one hundred dozen in one 
night, with poles and other weapons; and they were often 
taken in such numbers that they were thrown into piles, and 
kept to feed the swine. The Indians called the pigeon wusco- 
wan, a word signifying a wanderer. The wild fowl were so 
numerous in the waters, that persons sometimes killed " 50 
duckes at a shot." 

The Indians appear to have been very fond of amusements. 
The tribes, even from a great distance, were accustomed to 
challenge each other, and to assemble upon Lynn Beach to 
decide their contests. Here they sometimes passed many daysl 
in the exercises of running, leaping, wrestling, shooting, and 
other diversions. Before they began their sports, they drew a 
line in the sand, across which the parties shook hands in evi- 
dence of friendship, and they sometimes painted their faces, to 
prevent revenge. A tall pole was then planted in the beach, 
on which were hung beaver skins, wampum, and other articles, 
for which they contended ; and frequently, all they were worth 
was ventured in the play. One of their games was foot-ball. 
Another was called puim, which was played by shuffling to- 
gether a large number of small sticks, and contending for them. 
Another game was played with five flat pieces of bone, black 
on one side and white on the other. These were put into a 
wooden bowl, which was struck on the ground, causing the 
bones to bound aloft, and as they fell white or black, the game 
was decided. During this play, the Indians sat in a circle, 
making a great noise, by the constant repetition of the word 
huh, huh, — come, come — from which it was called hubbub; a 
word, the derivations of which seems greatly to have puzzled 
Dr. Johnson. 

The Indians believed in a Great Spirit, whom they called 
Kichtan, who made all the other gods, and one man and woman. 
The evil spirit they called Hobamock. They endured the most 
acute pains without a murmur, and seldom laughed loud. They 
cultivated a kind of natural music, and had their war and death 
songs. The Avomen had lullabies and melodies for their children, 
and modulated their voices by the songs of birds. Some early 
writers represent the voices of their females, when heard 



THE INDIANS. 47 

through the shadowy woods, to have been exquisitely harmoni- 
ous. It has been said they had no poets; but their whole lan- 
guage was a poem. What more poetical than calling the roar 
of the ocean on the beach, saivkiss, or great panting? — literally, 
the noise which a tired animal makes when spent in the chase. 
What more poetical than naming a boy Poquanum, or Dark 
Skin ; and a girl Wauapaquin, a Plume ? Every word of the 
Indians was expressive, and had a meaning. Such is natural 
poetry in all ages. The Welch called their great king Arthur, 
from aruthr, terribly fair ; and such was Alonzo, the name of the 
Moorish kings of Spain, from an Arabic word, signifying the 
fountain of beauty. When we give our children the names of 
gems and flowers — when we use language half as designative 
as that of the Indians, we may begin to talk of poetry. " I am 
an aged hemlock," said one, " whose head has been whitened 
by eighty snows !" " We will brighten the chain of our friend- 
ship with you," said the chiefs in their treaties. [" You are 
the rising sun, we are the setting," said an old chief, sadly, on 
seeing the prosperity of the whites. Gookin says that when 
the Quakers tried to convince certain Indians of the truth of 
their doctrines, advising them not to listen to the ministers, and 
telling them that they had " a light within, which was a suffi- 
cient guide," they replied, " We have long looked within, and 
■find it very dark."] The Indians reckoned their time by snows 
and moons. A snow was a winter ; and thus, a man who had 
seen eighty snows, was eighty years of age. A moon was a 
month ; thus they had the harvest moon, the hunting moon, and 
the moon of flowers. A sleep was a night ; and seven sleeps 
were seven days. This figurative language is in the highest 
degree poetical and beautiful. 

The Indians have ever been distinguished for friendship, jus- 
tice, magnanimity, and a high sense of honor. They have been 
represented by some as insensible and brutish, but, Avith the 
exception of their revenge, they were not an insensate race. 
The old chief, who requested permission of the white people to 
smoke one more whiff before he was slaughtered, was thought 
to be an unfeeling wretch ; but he expressed more than he could 
have done by the most eloquent speech. The red people re- 
ceived the immigrants in a friendly manner, and taught them 



48 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

how to plant; and when any of the whites traveled through the 
woods, they entertained them with more kindness than compli- 
ments, kept them freely many days, and often went ten, and 
even twenty miles, to conduct them on their way. The Eev. 
Roger Williams says : " They were remarkably free and cour- 
teous to invite all strangers in. I have reaped kindness again 
from many, seven years after, whom I myself had forgotten. It 
is a strange truth, that a man shall generally find more free 
entertainment and refreshment among these barbarians, than 
among thousands that call themselves Christians. 

The scene which presented itself to the first settlers, must 
have been in the highest degree interesting and beautiful. The 
light birchen canoes of the red men were seen gracefully swim- 
ming over the surface of the bright blue ocean ; the half clad 
females were beheld, bathing their olive limbs in the lucid flood, 
or sporting on the smooth beach, and gathering the spotted 
eggs from their little hollows in the sands, or the beautiful 
shells which abounded among the pebbles, to string into beads 
or weave into wampum, for the adornment of their necks and 
arms. At one time an Indian was seen with his bow, silently 
endeavoring to transfix the wild duck or the brant, as they rose 
and sunk on the alternate waves ; and at another, a glance was 
caught of the timid wild deer, rushing through the shadow of 
the dark green oaks ; or the sly fox, bounding from rock to rock 
among the high cliffs of Nahant, and stealing along the shore to 
find his evening repast, which the tide had left upon the beach. 
The httle sand-pipers darted along the thin edge of the wave — 
the white gulls in hundreds soared screaming overhead — and 
the curlews filled the echoes of the rocks with their wild and 
watery music. This is no imaginary picture, wrought up for 
the embellishment of a fanciful tale, but the delineation of 
an actual scene, which presented itself to the eyes of our 
fathers. 

An incident respecting the Indians, about a year before the 
settlement of Lynn, is related by Rev. Thomas Cobbett, in a 
letter to Increase Mather. "About the year 1628, when those 
few that came over with Colonel Indicot and begun to settle at 
Nahumkeeck, now called Salem, and in a manner all so sick of 
their journey, that though they had both small and great guns, 



INDIAN DEED OF LYNN. 49 

and powder and bullets for them, yet had not strength to man- 
age them, if suddenly put upon it ; and tidings being certainly 
brought them, on a Lord's day morning) that a thousand Indians 
from Saugust, (now called Lyn,) were coming against them to 
cut them off, they had much ado amongst them all to charge 
two or three of theyre great guns, and traile them to a pkice 
of advantage, where the Indians must pass to them, and there 
to shoot them off; when they heard by theyre noise which they 
made in the woods, that the Indians drew neare, the noise of 
which great artillery, to which the Indians were never wonted 
before, did occasionally, by the good hand of God, strike such 
dread into them, that by some lads who lay as scouts in the 
woods, they were heard to reiterate that confused outcrie, (0 
Hobbamock, much Hoggery,) and then fled confusedly back 
with all speed, when none pursued them. One old Button, 
lately living at Haverhill, who was then almost the only haile 
man left of that company, confirmed this to be so to me, accord- 
ingly as I had been informed of it." This old Button was Mat- 
thias Button, a Dutchman, who lived in a thatched house in 
Haverhill, in 1670, says Joshua Coffin. [And this same Button 
is acknowledged to have communicated to Mr. Cobbett a part 
of the interesting facts supplied to Dr. Increase Mather, regard- 
ing the early difficulties with the Indians. He came over with 
En^ico^ in 1628, and died in 1672.] 



INDIAN DEED OF LYNN. 

[By recurring to page 39, it will be observed that Mr. Lewis 
speaks of the Indian deeds of Marblehead and Salem. And it is 
a little remarkable that while doing so he did not suspect that 
there might also have been one of Lynn, for it appears as if 
such a suspicion would have put him upon that thorough search 
which must have resulted in its discovery. Such a deed, bear- 
ing date 4 Sept., 1686, may be found among the records at Salem. 
And this seems an appropriate place for its introduction, as it 
contains, aside from its more direct purpose, divers statements 
regarding some of the Indians of whom brief biographies have 
been given. It is true that in one or two points it somewhat 
tarnishes the romantic gloss which has so delighted us. But it 
is not unwholesome now and then to interpose a slight check to 
E 4 



60 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

the imaginary flights to which the lover of the people and 
things of old is ever prone. 

[It should not, however, be concluded that the first purchase 
from the Indians was made at the date of this deed. Separate 
tracts had been purchased at different times, before, and this 
was merely intended as a release or quit-claim of all the rights 
of the grantors in all the territory now constituting Lynn, Lynn- 
field, Nahant, Saugus, and Swampscot, and parts of Danvers, 
Reading and South Reading. At the time this deed was given, 
in reality not a third of the territory was occupied by the 
settlers ; but there was a prospect that it would presently come 
in use. The Indians had mostly retired, and it was important 
that their title, if any existed, should, be extinguished. The 
small consideration named is some indication that it was not 
considered that the Indians had any very valuable remaining 
interest. Other value, however, may have been given. It was 
often the case, that the consideration expressed in a deed was 
quite different from the real one, the custom of indulging in 
a little innocent deception being as prevalent then as now. 
And it was not unfrequently an object with the shrewd settlers 
to have it appear that the prices paid for lands were low, even 
when the old sagamores had succeeded in making good bargains. 
[And taking into account the time at which this deed was 
given, I am persuaded that the procuring of it was deem^ a 
matter of much importance, inasmuch as it would constitute 
written evidence that the natives had parted with the title to 
their lands for a satisfactory consideration — the previous deeds, 
if there were any, having been unrecorded and lost. The peo- 
ple were extremely suspicious that under James the crown 
agents would pay little regard to titles that did not rest upon 
some clear and unimpeachable evidence. And though Andros 
pretended to have no more regard for the signature of an In- 
dian than for the scratch of a bear's claw, he yet sometimes 
found the barbarous autographs very serious impediments in 
the way of his tyrannous assumptions. As a precautionary 
step, the procuring of this deed shows the wariness of our 
good fathers. It will be observed that the Indian deeds of 
Marblehead, Salem, and one or two other places were procured 
almost simultaneously with that of Lynn. And in March, 1689, 



INDIAN DEED OF LYNN. 51 

Audros asked Rev. Mr. Higginson wlietlier New England was 
the king's territory. The reply was, that it belonged to the 
colonists, because they had held it by just occupation and pur- 
chase from the Indians. The following is a copy of the deed, 
which, though it may not furnish much entertainment to the 
general reader, will be appreciated by the antiquarian. 

To ALL Christian People, to whom this present Deed of Confirmation, 
Ratification and Alienation shall come, David Kimkshamooshaw, who by credi- 
ble inteUigeuce is grandson to old Sagamore George No-Nose, so called, alias 
Wenepawweekin, sometime of Rmnuey Marsh, and sometimes at or about 
Chelmsford of ye collony of y" Massachyets, so called, sometimes here and 
sometimes there, but deceased, y" said David, grandson to ye said old Saga- 
more George No-Nose, deceased, and Abigail Kunkshamooshaw, ye wife of 
David, and Cicely, alias Su George, ye reputed daughter of said old Sagamore 
George, and James Quonopohit of Natick alias Rumney Marsh, and Mary his 
wife, send greeting, &c. 

Know Yee, that the said David Kunkshamooshaw and Abigail his wife, and 
Cicely alias Su Geoi-ge aforesaid and James Quonopohit aforesaid with his 
■vvife Mary who are ye nearest of kin and legall successors of ye aforesaid 
George No-Nose alias WenepaAV\veekin whom wee affirme was the true and 
sole ov/ner of ye land that ye towTis of Lynn and Reading aforesaid stand upon, 
and notwithstanding ye possession of ye English dwelling in those townships 
of Lynn and Reading aforesaid, wee, ye said David Kunkshamooshaw, Cicely 
alias Su George, James Quonopohit, &c., the rest aforesaid Indians, doe lay 
claime to j-e lands that these two townes aforesaid, Lynn and Reading, stand 
upon, and the dwellers thereof possess, that ye right and title thereto is ours and 
belong to us and ours ; but, howsoever, the townships of Lju and Reading 
having been long possessed by the English, and although wee make our clayme 
and ye selectmen and trustees for both townes aforesaid pleading title by 
grauuts of courts and purchase of old of our predecessor, George Sagamore, and 
such like matters, &c., wee. ye claymers aforenamed, viz. David Kunksha- 
mooshaw and Abigail his Squaw, Cicely alias Su George the reputed, daughter 
of old Sagamore George No-Nose, and James Quonopohit and Mary his Squaw, 
they beuig of the kindred as of claymers, considering the arguments of ye se- 
lectmen in both towTies, are not willing to make trouble to ourselves nor old 
neighbors in those two townes aforesaid of LjTin and Reading, &c., wee there- 
fore, the clay ming Indians aforesaid, viz. David Kunkshamooshaw and Abigail 
his wife and Cicely alias Su George the reputed daughter of old Sagamore 
George alias Wenepawweekin and James Quonopohit and Maiy his ^vife, all 
and every of us, as aforesaid, and jointly together, for and in consideration of ye 
summe of sixteen poundes of currant sterling money of silver in hand paid 
to us Indians clayming, viz. David Kunkshamooshaw, &c., at or before ye en- 
sealing and delivery of these presents, by JMr Ralph King, William Bassett, 
sen'r, Math'ew Farrington, sen'r, John Burrill, sen'r, Robert Potter, sen'r, 



52 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

Samuel Johnson, and Olliver Purchas, selectmen in Lynn, in ye county of 
Essex, in New England, trustees and prudentials for and in behalf of ye pur- 
chasers and now proprietors of y^ Townships of Lynn and Reading, well and 
truly i>syd, y© receipt whereof we, viz. David Kuukshamooshaw, Abigail his 
wife, Cicely alias Su George y® reputed daughter of old Sagamore George, and 
James Conopohit, of Natick, alias Rumney Marsh, and Mary his wife, doe 
hereby acknowledge themselves therewith to be fully satisfied and contented, 
and thereof and of every pait thereof, doe hereby acquit, exhonerate, and 
discharge ye said M"" Ralph King, William Bassett, sen'r, with all and eveiy of ye 
selectmen aforesaid, trustees and prudentials, together with y* purcliasers and 
now proprietors of ye said townships of Lyn and of Reading, theii" heii's, execu- 
tors, admuiistrators, and assigns, forever, by these pi"esents have given, granted 
and bargained a full and a firme confirmation and ratification of all grants of 
coui-ts and any former alienation made by our predecessor or predecessors 
and our own right, title and interest, clayme and demand whatsoever, and by 
these presents doe fully, freely, clearly, and absolutely, give and grant a full and 
firm confirmation and ratification of all grants of courts, and any sort of aliena- 
tion formerly made by om* predecessor or predecessors, as alsoe all our owaie 
clayme of right, title, interest and demand unto them, ye said M"" Ralph King, 
William Bassett, and the rest, selectmen forenamed, ti'ustees and prudentials 
for ye toAvne of hya, ye worshipful! M"" John Browne, Capt. Jeremiah Sweyn, 
and Leiut. William Harsey, trustees and prudentials for ye towiie of Reading, 
to then- heii's and assigns forever, to and for ye sole use, benefit and behoof of 
ye purchasers and now proprietors of ye townships of Lymi and Reading afore- 
said and all yo said townships of Lynn and Readmg joyning one to another, 
even from the sea, where ye line beginneth between Lyn and Marblehead, 
and so between Lynn and Salem, as it is stated by those townes and marked, 
and so to Ipswich River, and so from thence as it is stated betwixt Salem and 
Reading, and as ye line is stated and lainne betwixt Wills hill, and as is stated 
and runne betwixt Reading and Audover and as it is stated betwixt Oburne 
and Reading, and as it is stated and nmn betwixt Charlestowne, Maiden, Lynn 
and Reading, and upon the sea from ye line that beginneth at Lynn, and Mar- 
blehead, and Salem, to divide the towns aforesaid, so as well from thence to 
ye two Nahants, viz. the little Nahant and ye great Nahant, as ye sea compass- 
eth it almost round and soe to ye river called Ljiin River or Rumney Marsh 
River or Creeke vnto ye line from Brides Brook to ye said Creek, answering 
ye line that is stated between Lynn and Boston, from ye said Brides Brook up 
to Reading — This said tract of land, described as aforesaid, together with 
all houses, edifices, buildings, lands, yards, orchards, gardens, meadows, 
mari-ishes, fFeedings, grounds, rocks, stones, beach fflats, pastures, commons 
and commons of pasture, woods, underwoods, swamps, waters, water- 
courses, damms, ponds, fishings, flowings, ways, easements, profits, privileges, 
I'ights, connnodities, royalling, hereditaments, and appurtenances whatsoever, 
to ye said townships of Lynn and Reading and other ye premises belonging, 
or in any wise appeitaining, or by them now used, occupied and injoyed as 
part, parcel or member thereof; and also all rents, arrearages of rents, quit 



INDIAN DEED OF LYNN. 53 

rents, rights and appmtenances whatsoever, uotlung excepted or resei-ved, and 
also all deeds, writings, and evidences whatsoever, touching ye premises or 
any part or parcell thereof. 

To Have and to Hold all ye said townships of Lynn and Reading, as 
well as the Two Nahants aforesaid, ye little and ye great Nahant, as they arc 
encompassed by ye sea widi their beaches from ye great Nahant to y" little, 
and from the little Nahant homeward where Richard Hood now dwelleth, and 
so to Mr Kings, with all ye above granted premises, with their and every of 
their rights, members and appurtenances, and eveiy part and parcell thereof, 
hereby given, granted confirmed, ratified, unto y« said JM^ Ralph Kmg, William 
Bassett and ye rest selectmen in behalf of Lynn, and ye worshipfuU M' John 
Browne and ye rest aforenamed, for Readhig, all trustees and prudentials for 
ye townships of Lyn and Reading, to them and then- heirs and assigns forever, 
to and for ye sole vse, benefit and behoof of ye purchasers and now proprietors 
of j'e said townships of Lynn and Reading; and they, y^ said David Kunksha- 
raooshaw and Abigail his wife, and Cicely alias Su George, the reputed daugh 
ter of George No-Nose, deceased, and James Quonopohit and Maiy his wife, 
Indians aforesaid, for themselves, their heirs, executors, administrators, and 
assigns, jointly, severally, and respectively, doe hereby covenant, promise, and 
grant to and with ye said M"" King, WiUiam Bassett, sen'r, and ye rest of LjTin," 
and the worshipfuU M^ Jolm Browne and ye rest of Reading, trustees and pru- 
dentials for y« townes of Lynn and Reading, as aforesaid, their heirs and 
assigns, and to the purchasers and now proprietors of y said townships of 
LyTi and Reading, &c., m manner and forme following, (that is to say,) that at 
y^ time of this gi'aunt, confirmation and alienation and untill the ensealing and 
delivery of these presents, their ancestor and ancestors and they, the above- 
named David and Abigail his now wife, and Cicely alias Su George, and ye 
rest aforenamed Ladians, were the true, sole, and lawfull owners of all ye afore- 
bargained, confiiTned, and aliened premises, and were lawfully seized off* and 
in ye same and eveiy part thereof in their own propper right, and have in them- 
selves full power, good right, and lawfull authority to grant, aliene, confii-m, 
and assure ye same as is afore described in this deed, vnto Mr Ralph King, 
William Bassett, sen'i*, and j'e rest selectmen of Lynn, and ye worshipfuU M"" 
John Browne and ye rest aforenamed, agents for Reading, all tnistees and 
prudentials for y^ two townships of Lyn and Reading, to them, then- heirs and 
assigns forever, for ye use aforesaid, viz. the benefit and behoof of ye purchas- 
ers and now proprietors of y^ two tovsniships aforesaid, as a good, perfect and 
absolute estate of inheritance in fee simple without any manner of condition, 
reversion or limitation whatsoever, so as to alter, change, or make void y" 
same, and that y« said ti-ustees aforesaid, and ye purchasers and now proprie 
tors of ye said townships of Lynn and Reading, then* heirs and assigns, shall 
and may, by vertue and force of these presents, from time to time and at all 
times forever hereafter, lawfully, peaceably, and quietly, have, hold, use, oc«u 
py, possess, and injoy, ye above gi-anted, aliened, and confu-med premises, 
with ye appurtenances and benefits thereof, and every part and parcell thereof, 
free and clear, and clearly acquitted and discharged off and from all and all 



54 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

manner of other gifts, graunts, bargaines, sales, leases, mortgages, jointures, 
dowers, judgments, executions, fforfeitures, and off and from all other titles, 
troubles, charges, incumbrances, whatsoever, had, made, committed, done or 
suffered to be done by the said David and Abigail his wife. Cicely alias Su 
George and ye rest Indians aforenamed, them or any of them, or any of their 
heu-s or assigns, or any of their ancestors, at any time or times. And further, 
that ye said David Kunkshamooshaw and Abigail his wife, Sa George, James 
Quonopohit and Mary his wife, &c., then- heirs, executors and administrators, 
&c., jointly and severally will and shall by these presents, from time to time 
and at all times hereaftei-, wairant and defend then* foregi'anted and confirmed 
pi-emises, with then- benefits and appm-tenances and eveiy part and parcell 
thereof, unto the said trustees or prudentials forenamed for ye townships of 
Lyn and Reading, and then- hehs and assigns forever, to and for the sole use 
and benefit of ye pm-chasers and now proprietors in and off ye said townships 
of Lynn and Readmg, against all and every person or persons whatsoever any 
waies lawfully clayming or demanding ye same or any part oivparcell thereof. 
And lastly, that they, ye said David, and Su George, and James Quonopohit, 
&c., then- wives or any of their heirs, executors, or admin'rs, shall and will 
fi-om time to time and at all times hereafter, when therevnto required, at 
ye cost and charges of ye aforesaid trustees and prudentials, their heirs or 
assigns, or ye purchasers and proprietors of ye townnships of Lynn and Read- 
ing, &c., doe make, acknowledge, suffer, all and every such further act and 
acts, thmg and things, assurances and conveyances in ye law, whatsoever, for 
ye fm-ther more better surety and sm-e making of ye abovesaid townships of 
Lynn and Reading, with ye rights, hereditaments, benefits and appurtenances 
above by these presents mentioned to be bargained, aliened, confii-med, vnto 
ye aforesaid ti-ustees and prudentials, their heire and assigns, for ye vse afore- 
said, as by the said trustees aforesaid, their heirs or assigns, or ye said propi-ie- 
tors, or by their councill learned in ye law, shall be reasonably devised, advised 
or requned. 

In Witness Whereof, ye said David Kunkshamooshaw and Abigail his 
wife, and Cicely alias Su George and James Quonopohit and Mary his wife, 
have hereunto set then- hands and seals, ye day of ye date, being ye fomth day 
of September, one thousand, six hundi'ed eighty and six, annoque regni regis 
Jacobus Secundi Auglice. 

[This deed, it will be seen, was intended to confirm and ratify 
previous alienations, as well as to operate as a release or quit- 
claim of all the interest remaining in the grantors. The virtue 
of the conveyance, however, must have existed mainly in the 
release. But the purpose was accomplished in the old-fashion 
way, and sliows that, as before stated, there were earlier con- 
veyances. To this deed the Indian grantors aflSxed their marks 
and seals. The marks of David and Abigail Kunkshamooshaw, 
are rude representations of a bow and arrow. Cicely alias Su 



INDIAN DEED OF LYNN. 65 

George indulges in a modest flourisli. And Mary Ponbam, alias 
Quouopohit, dashes off with a figure that somewhat resembles 
an intoxicated X, but which may have been intended for a dis- 
guised cross. The more learned James Quonopohit writes his 
name in full. On the whole, the signatures do not indicate 
remarkable accomplishment in the use of the pen ; but fortu- 
nately the value of a sign manual does not depend on the 
chirography. It is not Avonderful that such signatures, put 
Andros in mind of scratches of a bear's claw. A slip or two 
from the modern rules of grammar, may have been noticed ; 
but it is a wise provision that bad grammar shall not damage 
a legal instrument if the meaning is apparent. Fac-similes of 
the marks are here introduced. They were traced from the 
record, which appears to give very careful imitations of the 
originals. 




^ ^^ 




INDIAN SIGNATURES TO THE DEED OF LYNN. 

[The certificate of "Bartho. Gedney, one ofy® Council," says, 
" All y^ persons hereunto subscribed, acknowledged the within 
written to be their act and deed, this 31 May, 1687." 

[Since page 49 was made ready, it has occurred to me that 
Mr. Lewis, many years ago, stated in one of the papers that an 
ancient Indian deed of Lynn lands was in possession of the Hart 
family, as late as 1800. If he meant the family of my grand- 
father, Joseph Hart, who lived in the old house still standing 
on Boston street, west corner of North Federal — the same in 
which his unworthy grandson first opened his eyes on this 
troublous world — it can readily be imagined what may have 
been its fate ; as I very well remember that in my boyhood there 
was in the garret a large collection of old papers, to which the 
boys had free accQss. The precious document, may, therefore, 
have ended its career of usefulness in the merry guise of a kite 
tail. Many and many an important document has come to an 
end as inglorious. And there are doubtless numbers still in 
existence ordained to a similar fate.] 



56 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA 

There were but few towns planted in Massachusetts before 
the settlement of Lynn. In 1622, a plantation was begun at 
"Weymouth. In 1624, the Rev. William Blackstone, with his 
family, established himself at Boston. [And in the same year, 
a fishing and planting station was commenced at Cape Ann. 
The famous Roger Conant was appointed overseer, in 1625. 
The settlement, however, was broken up in the autump of 1626, 
and Conant, with most of the company, removed from the cape, 
and commenced the settlement of Salem. He brought up his 
habitation ; and intelligent antiquarians affirm that its frame is 
still doing service in the quaint old edifice standing on the east 
side of Washington street, corner of Church.] In 1625, a 
settlement was begun at Braintree ; and in 1627, at Charles- 
town. On the 19th of March, 1628, the Council in England sold 
all that part of Massachusetts, between three miles north of 
Merrimack River, and three miles south of Charles River, to six 
gentlemen, one of whom was Mr. John Humfrey, who after- 
ward came to Lynn. 

Lynn is pleasantly situated on the northern shore of Massa- 
chusetts Bay, between the cities of Salem and Boston. It 
extends six miles on the sea shore and five miles into the woods. 
[It will be borne in mind that this was written while Nahant 
and Swampscot remained parts of Lynn.] The southern por- 
tion of the town is a long, narrow prairie, defended on the north 
by a chain of high, rocky hills, beyond which is an extensive 
range of woodland. It is surrounded by abundance of water, 
having the river of Saugus on the west, the harbor on the south, 
the ocean on the southeast, and the lakes of Lynn on the north. 
From the centre of the southern side, a beach of sand extends 
two miles into the ocean, at the end of which are the two 
peninsular islands called the Nahants. This beach forms one 
side of the harbor, and protects it from the ocean. When great 
storms beat on this beach, and on the cliffs of Nahant, they 
make a roaring which may be heard six miles. 

Lynn is emphatically a region of romance and beauty. Her 
wide-spread and variegated shores — her extended beaches — 
her beautiful Nahant — her craggy cliffs, that overhang the 
sea — her hills of porphyry — her woodland lakes — her wild, 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 57 

secluded vales — her lovely groves, where sings the whip-poor- 
will — farnish fruitful themes for inexhaustible description ; 
while the legends of her forest kings and their vast tribes — 
" their feather-cinctured chiefs and dusky loves," will be rich 
themes of song a hundred ages hence. 

Lynn, as it now exists, is much smaller than it was before the 
towns of Saugus, Lynnfield, Reading, and South Reading were 
separated from it. It is now, [1844,] bounded on the west by 
Saugus, OU' the northwest by Lynnfield, on the north and east 
by Danvers and Salem. The old county road passes through 
the northern part, the Salem Turnpike through the centre, and 
the rail road from Portland to Boston through the southern 
part. The distance to Salem, on the northeast, is five miles ; 
to Boston, on the southwest, nine miles. It contains 9360 
acres, or fourteen square miles ; and the boundary line meas- 
ures thirty-four miles. It presents a bold and rocky shore, 
consisting of craggy and precipitous cliffs, interspersed with 
numerous bays, coves, and beaches, which furnish a pleasing 
and picturesque variety. Above these rise little verdant mounds 
and lofty, barren rocks, and high hills, clothed with woods of 
evergreen. The first settlers found the town, including Nahant, 
chiefly covered by forests of aged trees, which had never been 
disturbed but by the storms of centuries. On the tops of an- 
cient oaks, which grew upon the cliffs, the eagles built their 
nests ; the wild-cat and the bear rested in their branches ; and 
the fox and the wolf prowled beneath. The squirrel made his 
home undisturbed in the nut-tree ; the wood-pigeon murmured 
his sweet notes in the glen; and the beaver constructed his 
dam across the wild brook. The ponds and streams were filled 
with fish ; and the harbor was covered by ^ea-fowl, which laid 
their eggs on the clifi"s and on the sands of the beach. 

The Indian name of the town was Saugus ; and by that name 
it was known for eiglit years. The root of this word signifies 
great, or extended; and it was probably applied to the Long 
Beach. Wood, in his early map of New England, places the 
word " Sagus " on Sagamore Hill. The river on the west was 
called by the In^ioxiQ Abousett — the word Saugus being applied 
to it by the white men. It was called the river at Saugus, and 
the river of Saugus, and finally the Saugus river ; the original 



58 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

name " Abousett " being lost until I had the pleasure of restor- 
ing it. This river has its source in Reading Pond, about ten 
miles from the sea. For the first half of its course, it is only 
sufficient for a mill stream, but becomes broader towards its 
mouth, where it is more than a quarter of a mile wide. It is 
crossed by four bridges — that at the Iron Works being about 
60 feet in length, that on the old Boston road about 200, that 
on the Turnpike 480, and that on the Eastern Rail Road 1550. 
It is very crooked in its course, flowing three miles in the dis- 
tance of one. In several places, after making a circuitous route 
of half a mile, it returns to within a few rods of the place whence 
it deviated. The harbor, into which it flows, is spacious, but 
shoal, and does not easily admit large vessels. 

Nahant, [which was incorporated as a separate town in 1853,] 
is the original name of the peninsula on the south of Lynn, 
which has become so celebrated. [For some account of the 
early visits to Nahant, see pages 27 — 30.] This is probably 
the Indian term Nalianteau, a dual word signifying two united, 
or twins. This name is peculiarly appropriate, and is an 
instance of the felicity of Indian appellations ; for the two 
islands, like the Siamese twins, are not only connected together 
by the short beach, but both are chained to the main land by 
the long beach. [I have found it elsewhere stated that Nahant, 
in the Indian language, signified " lover's walk."] When the 
early settlers spoke of the larger promontory, they called it 
Nahant ; but more commonly after the manner of the Indians, 
who talked of both together, they called them " the Nahants." 

Great Nahant is two miles in length, and about half a mile in 
breadth, containing five hundred acres, and is six and one quar- 
ter miles in circumference. It is surrounded by steep, craggy 
clifi"s, rising from twenty to sixty feet above the tide, with a 
considerable depth of water below. The rocks present a great 
variety of color — white, green, blue, red, purple, and gray — 
and in some places very black and shining, having the appear- 
ance of iron. The cliffs are pierced by many deep fissures, 
caverns and grottos ; and between these are numerous coves, 
and beaches of fine, shining, silvery sand, crowned by ridges 
of various colored pebbles, interspersed with sea-shells. Above 
the cliffs, the promontory swells into mounds from sixty to ninety 







Swallows' Cave. (Page 59=) 




Irene's Grotto. (Page 60.) 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. — (NAHANT.) 59 

feet in height. There are many remarkable cliffs and caves 
around Nahant, which are very interesting to the lovers of 
natural curiosities. 

The Swallows' Cave is a passage beneath a high cliff, on the 
southeastern part of Nahant. The entrance is eight feet high 
and ten wide. Inside, it is fourteen feet wide, and nearly twen- 
ty feet in height. Toward the centre it becomes narrower, and 
at the distance of seventy-two feet, opens into the sea. It may 
be entered about half tide, and passing through, you may ascend 
to the height above, without returning through the cave. At 
high tide the water rushes through with great fury. The swal- 
lows formerly inhabited this cave in great numbers, and built 
their nests on the irregularities of the rock above; but the 
multitude of visitors have frightened them mostly away. 

In delineating this delightful cavern, many a vision of early 

romance rises lovelily before me, 

And presses foi-ward to be m my soug, 
But must not now. 

It is not allowable for a serious historian to indulge in discur- 
sions of fancy, else might I record many a legend of love and 
constancy, which has been transmitted down from the olden 
time, in connection with this rude and romantic scenery. Here 
came the Indian maid, in all her artlessness of beauty, to lave 
her limbs in the enamored water. Here came AVenuchus and 
Yawata, and other daughters of the forest, to indulge the gush- 
ings of their love, which they had learned, not in the pages of 
Burns or Byron, but in God's beautiful book of the unsophisti- 
cated human heart. Here, too, the cliffs now washed by the 
pure waves, and dried by many a summer sun, have been pur- 
pled by the blood of human slaughter ; and perhaps this very 
cavern has sheltered some Indian mother or daughter from the 
tomahawk of the remorseless foe of her nation. Here also, in 
later times, have lovers pledged their warm and fond affections — 
happy if the succeeding realities of life have not frustrated the 
vision of happiness here formed. 

Southward from the Swallows' Cave is Pea Island, an irregu. 
lar rock, about twenty rods broad. It has some soil on it, on 
which the sea pea grows. It is united to the Swallows' Cliff 
by a little isthmus, or beach of sand, thirteen rods long. 



60 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

Eastward from Pea Island are two long, low, black ledges, 
lying in the water and covered at high tides, called the Shag 
Rocks. Several vessels have been wrecked on them. 

Passing from the Swallows' Cave along the rocks, near the 
edge of the water, to the western side of the same cliff, you 
come to Irene's Grotto — a tall arch, singularly grotesque and 
beautiful, leading to a large room in the rock. This is one of 
the greatest curiosities on Nahant, and was formerly much more 
so until sacrilegious hands broke down part of the roof above, 
to obtain stone for building. 

Eastward from Swallows' Cave is Pulpit Rock — avast block, 
about thirty feet in height, and nearly twenty feet square, stand- 
ing boldly out in the tide. On the top is an opening, forming a 
seat ; but from the steepness of the rock on all sides, it is diflS- 
cult of access. The upper portion of the rock has a striking 
resemblance to a pile of great books. This rock is so peculiarly 
unique in its situation and character, that if drawings were made 
of it from three sides, they would scarcely be supposed to rep- 
resent the same object. 

The Natural Bridge is near Pulpit Rock. It is a portion of 
the cliff forming an arch across a deep gorge, from which you 
look down upon the rocks and tide, twenty feet below. 

Near East Point is a great gorge, overhung b}" a precipice on 
either side, called the Cauldron Cliff; in which, especially during 
great storms, the water boils with tremendous force and fury. 
On the right of this, descending another way, is the Roaring 
Cavern ; having an aperture beneath the rock, through which 
you hear the roaring of the Cauldron Cliff. 

On the northeastern side of Nahant, at the extremity of Cedar 
Point, is- Castle Rock, an immense pile, bearing a strong resem- 
blance to the ruins of an old castle. The battlements and but- 
tresses are strongly outlined; and the square openings in the 
sides, especially when thrown into deep shadow, appear like 
doors, windows, and embrasures. Indeed the whole of Nahant 
has the appearance of a strongly fortified place. 

Northwest from Castle Rock is the Spouting Horn. It is a 
winding fissure in the lower projecting bed of the cliff, in the 
form of a horn, passing into a deep cavern under the rock. The 
water is driven through a tunnel, formed by two walls of rock, 




Pulpit Rock. (Page (JO.) 




Castle Rock. (Page 60.) 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. — (NAHANT.) 61 

about ono hundred feet, and is then forced into the cavern, from 
which it is spouted, with great violence, in foam and spray. In 
a great easterly storm, at half flood, when the tide is coming in 
with all its power, the water is driven into this opening with a 
force that seems to jar the foundations of the solid rock ; and 
each wave makes a sound like subterranean thunder. The cliff 
rises abruptly forty feet above, but there is a good descent to 
the mouth of the tunnel. 

Westward from the Spouting Horn is a large black ledge, 
called the Iron Mine, from its great resemblance to that mineral. 
It embraces a singular cavity, called the Dashing Rock. 

At the northwestern extremity of Nahant, is John's Peril, a 
vast fissure in the cliff, forty feet perpendicular. It received its 
name from the following anecdote : John Breed, one of the early 
inhabitants of Nahant, one day attempted to drive his team be- 
tween a rock on the hill and this cliff. The passage being 
narrow, and finding his team in great peril, he hastily unfast- 
ened his oxen ; and the cart, falling down the precipice, was 
dashed in pieces on the rocks below. 

Directly in front of Nahant, at the distance of three-fourths 
of a mile, on the east, is Egg Rock, [which is an extension of 
the ledge on the eastern side of Nahant.] It rises abruptly 
from the sea, eighty-six feet in height. Its shape is oval, being 
forty-five rods in length, and twelve in breadth, containing 
about three acres. Near the summit is half an acre of excellent 
soil covered with rank grass. The gulls lay their eggs here in 
abundance, whence the rock derives its name. The approach 
to this rock is dangerous, except in calm weather, and there is 
but one good landing place, which is on the western side. Its 
shape and colors are highly picturesque. Viewed from the north 
it has the semblance of a couchant lion, lying out in front of the 
town, to protect it from the approach of a foreign enemy — 
meet emblem of the spirit which slumbers on our shores. [Egg 
Rock was ceded to the United States in 1856, and a light house 
was immediately after erected upon it. The light was shown 
for the first time on the night of 15 Sept. 1857. It would 
certainly have been more convenient, and perhaps quite as use- 
ful, on the point of Nahant ; but its appearance would not have 
^een so picturesque. "The cost of the building was $3,700. 
F 



62 HISTORY OP LTNIT. 

Mr. Lewis exerted himself with a good deal of zeal and pertin- 
acity to secure the establishment of this light house.] 

South of Nahant is a dangerous rock, covered at high tide, 
called Sunk Rock. On the western side, at the entrance of the 
harbor, is a cluster of rocks called the Lobster Rocks. 

Nahant has always been a place of interest to the lovers of 
natural scenery, and has long been visited in the summer season 
by parties of pleasure, who, when there were no hotels, cooked 
their chowders on the rocks. Few of the numerous visitors at 
Nahant have any idea of the place in its primitive simplicity, 
when its advantages were known and appreciated by a limited 
number of the inhabitants of the metropolis and neighboring 
towns. Accommodations for visitors were then circumscribed, 
and food was not very abundant. A chicken, knocked down by 
a fishing-pole in the morning, and cooked at dinner, served to 
increase the usual meal of fish, and was regarded as one of the 
luxuries of the place. But notwithstanding the inconveniences 
to which visitors were subjected, several families from Boston 
passed the whole summer in the close quarters of the village. 
Hon. James T. Austin, Hon. William Sullivan, Hon. William Minot, 
Charles Bradbury, Esq., Rufus Amory, Esq., and Marshall Prince, 
were among those who early and annually visited the rock-bound 
peninsula with their families. At this time, Nahant did not 
boast of a house from Bass Beach round by East Point to Bass 
Rock. The whole of the space now dotted by luxurious cot- 
tages and cultivated soil, was a barren waste, covered b}^ short, 
brown grass, tenanted by grasshoppers and snakes. The strag- 
gler to East Point, Pulpit Rock, and Swallows' Cave, found his 
path impeded by stone walls — while the rest of the island, 
excepting the road through the village, was a terra incognita to 
all, save the old islanders and a few constant visitors. Subse- 
quently, Rouillard opened a house in the village, which accom- 
modated the numbers who were beginning to appreciate the 
beauties of the place. At this time, no artificial rules of society 
marred the comfort of the visitors. There was no dressing for 
dinners — no ceremonious calls. No belles brought a ward- 
robe, made up in the latest fashion of the day; and no beaux 
confined and cramped their limbs with tight coats, strapped 
pants, and high-heeled boots. Visitors shook ofi" the restraints-^ 



TOPOCxRAPHT AND PHENCBIENA — (nAHANT.) 6 



D 



of society, and assimilated themselves in some degree to the 
rugged character of the scenery around, them. Parties were 
frequently made, and whole days passed by them in the Swal- 
lows' Cave and on the adjacent rocks — the ladies with their 
sewing and books, while the men amused themselves in shooting 
or fishing, and the children in picking up pebbles and shells on 
the beaches. One of the first improvements made at Nahant, 
was a bathing-house at the southern extremity of Bass Beach, 
built under the direction of James Magee, Esq., whose name 
(became associated with most of the early improvements. Since 
the citizens of Boston took Nahant into their patronage, its 
improvement has been rapid, and it now presents the appear- 
ance of a romantic town, sparkling in the ocean waves. 

Among the benefactors of Nahant, no one is deserving of 
higher commendation than Frederic Tudor, Esq., who has built 
one of the most beautiful rustic cottages in the country, and 
has expended many thousand dollars to improve and beautify 
the place, by constructing side-walks, and planting several thou- 
sands of fruit and ornamental trees, both on his own grounds, 
and in the public walks. He has converted a barren hill into a 
garden, which has produced some of the richest and most deli- 
cious fruits and vegetables that have been presented at the 
horticultural exhibitions. 

[In 1860, Mr. Tudor commenced those improvements in the 
vicinity of North Spring, or Cold Spring, as it has been indis- 
criminately called, which have already added much to its natural 
attractions. For generation after generation this locality has 
been a favorite place of resort. The little stream which gave 
rise to the name has never ceased to leap joyously from its 
paternal fountain somewhere in the bowels of the rocky hill, 
and unmurmuringly trickle on to add its mite to the waters of 
the craving ocean — just as joyously when it foil on the rough 
bed of rock that nature made ready for it, as it now does upon 
the marble bed, which the hand of art prepared. And may it 
not, after these many ages of small but ceaseless contribution, 
modestly claim to have performed some service in the filling 
up of the great sea? Here, upon the rough rocks, the parties 
of old were accustomed to cook their chowders, made of fish 
caught from the abundance that sported at their very feet — 



64 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

the drift-wood at hand being suflScient for the fires, and the 
sparkling spring supplying all demands of thirst. Under the 
shade of the few old forest trees that still remained upon the 
upland, the happy visitors partook of their repast, and contem- 
plated the glorious scene spread out to view. But art has come 
in and shaken hands with nature. And the Maolis (Siloam) 
Grounds have conveniences, in the unique erections and well- 
ordered appointments, to meet the wants of a genteeler age. 

[The most striking of the works of art, in this vjcinity, is the 
Rock Temple. It is reared upon an elevated ledge, a little 
southeast of the old North Spring road, and a few rods above the 
ever-dashing waves. Its circumference is about a hundred and 
twenty feet, and it consists of eight irregular columns of strati- 
fied rock, resting upon bases formed of ponderous concrete 
stones, some of several tons weight, supporting an octagonal 
roof of heavy timber, covered with bark and other material in 
keeping with the rugged appearance of the columns, which are, 
including their bases, from twelve to fifteen feet in height, 
varying according to the inequalities of the surface on which 
they rest. Sundry mythological denizens of the deep, glisten 
in gilded honor upon the gables and challenge the study of the 
curious. This attractive edifice was reared in 18G1. 

[The contemplations of visitors who seat themselves in the 
Rock Temple, must vary according to their peculiarities of mind, 
habits of thought, and education. To some, visions of classic 
days will arise — days when philosophy and poetry were taught 
amid the inspiring scenes of nature — when the grove, the hill- 
top and the sounding shore were schools — and, perhaps, lost 
in contemplation, they will glance around for the appearance 
of the robed sage appointed there to minister. To others, 
weird visions may be suggested — visions of old Druidical days, 
when through the open temple of rock the wild winds moaned 
as if in solemn unison with the wail of the disturbed spirits 
who lingered there — and they, too, lost in contemplation, may 
glance around for the shaven priest and bound victim. 

[But all who come hither with unstraying thoughts may enjoy 
one of the most captivating scenes that nature ever provided 
for the eye of man. In the quiet sleeping of the ocean, beneath 
a cloudless sky — her swelhng bosom traversed by white sails, 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA — (NAHANT.) 



65 



scudding in all directions, with the dark trains of steamers 
fading away on the horizon, and the sunlight gilding her dan- 
cing ripples — he beholds a picture of rare beauty, the effect 
of which is vastly heightened by the inland background. The 
hills, the woods, the rocks, the habitations, the towering church 
spires, the sandy ridge, the distant shore, all lend their charms. 
And here the visitor may also sit and witness the stern gran- 
deur of the ocean storm — sit tremblingly a-watch, while the 
eternal rocks themselves seem to recoil from the assaulting 
billows — when by the midnight lightning's gleam the power- 
less ship, perchance, may be discerned dashing furiously onward 
to her doom among the jagged cliffs. And may it not be, too, 
that during years to come this temple will be resorted to by 
lovers on their moonlight strolls. Here may they sit and whis- 
per their sweet dreams, with hopes as bright and souls as placid, 
as the beams that rock upon the wave. And may their happy 
dreams prove verities.] 




ROCK TEMPLE, (maOLIS GROUNDS,) NAHANT. 



66 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

Little Nahant, is one hundred and forty rods long, and seventy 
broad, containing forty acres. It is a bill, consisting of two 
graceful elevations, rising eighty feet above the sea, and defend- 
ed by great battlements of rock, from twenty to sixty feet in 
height. On the southern side are two deep gorges, called the 
Great and Little Furnace. Between these is Mary's Grotto, a 
spacious room, twenty-four feet square, and twenty in height, 
opening into the sea. It was formerly completely roofed by a 
great arched rock ; but some of those persons who have no 
veneration for the sublime works of Nature, have broken down 
a large portion of it. On the north side of Little Nahant is a 
fissure called the Wolf's Cave. 

[Interesting erratic rocks have been observed at Little Na- 
hant — on the western side, a boulder of fine pudding stone, 
twenty-six feet in circumference ; a granite boulder, thirty-six 
feet in circumference ; a brecciated boulder, thirty-six feet in 
circumference, half buried in sand ; — on the southern side, a 
granite boulder, thirty-four feet in circumference ; a split boul- 
der, irregular, forty-six feet in circumference ; an irregular brec- 
ciated boulder, forty-nine feet in circumference, weighing about 
a hundred and sixty tons ; — on the summit, near East Point, a 
split boulder, forty-six feet in circumference.] 

Little Nahant is connected to Great Nahant by Nahant Beach, 
which is somewhat more than half a mile in length, of great 
smoothness and beauty. 

Lynn Beach, which connects the Nahants to the main land, 
is two miles in length on the eastern side, and two and a half 
miles on the western. It is an isthmus, or causeway, of fine, 
shining, gray sand, forming a curve, and rising so high in the 
centre as generally to prevent the tide from passing over. On 
the western side it slopes to the harbor, and on the eastern side 
to the ocean. The ocean side is most beautiful, as here the tide 
flows out about thirty-three rods, leaving a smooth, polished 
surface of compact sand, so hard that the horse's hoof scarcely 
makes a print, and the wheel passes without sound. It fre- 
quently retains sufficient lustre after the tide has left it, to give 
it the appearance of a mirror ; and on a cloudy day the traveler 
may see the perfect image of his horse reflected beneath, with 
the clouds below, and can easily imagine himself to be passing, 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 67 

like a spirit, through a world of shadows — a brightly mirrored 
emblem of his real existence I 

It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to convey to the mind of a 
reader who has never witnessed the prospect, an idea of the 
beauty and sublimity of this beach, and of the absolute magnifi- 
cence of the surrounding scenery. A floor of sand, two miles 
in length, and more than nine hundred feet in breadth, at low 
tide, bounded on two sides by the water and the sky, and pre- 
senting a surface so extensive that two millions of people might 
stand upon it, is certainly a view which the universe cannot 
parallel. This beach is composed of movable particles of sand, 
so small that two thousand of them would not make a grain as 
large as the head of a pin ; yet these movable atoms have with- 
stood the whole immense power of the Atlantic ocean for cen- 
turies, perhaps from the creation ! 

There are five beaches on the shores of Lynn, [including 
Swampscot,] and sixteen around Nahant. The names of these, 
beginning at the east, are Phillips' — Whale — Swampscot — 
Humfrey's — Lynn — Nahant — Stoney — Bass — Canoe — Ba- 
thing — Pea Island — Joseph's — Curlew — Crystal — Dorothy's — 
Pond — Lewis's — Coral — Reed — Johnson's — and Black Rock 
beaches. These together have an extent of nine miles, and 
most of them are smooth and beautiful. Great quantities of 
kelp and rock weed are thrown upon these beaches by storms, 
which are gathered by the farmers for the enrichment of their 
lands. 

Swampscot is the original Indian name of the fishing village 
at the eastern part of the town. [It was incorporated as a 
separate town, 21 May, 1852.] This is a place of great natural 
beauty, bearing a strong resemblance to the Bay of Naples. On 
the west of Swampscot is a pleasant rock, called Black Will's 
Clifi", from an Indian sagamore who resided there. On the 
east is a low and very dangerous ledge of rocks extending into 
the sea, called Dread Ledge. The cliffs, coves, and beaches at 
Swampscot are admirably picturesque, and vie with those of 
Nahant in romantic beauty. 

There are numerous building sites of surpassing loveliness, 
not only at Nahant and Swampscot, but throughout Lynn ; and 
when a better taste in architecture shall prevail, and the town 



68 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

becomes as highly ornamented by art as it has been by nature, 
it will perhaps be surpassed by no town in the Union. I have 
lono- endeavored to introduce a style of architecture which shall 
be in harmony with the wild and natural beauty of the scenery — 
a style in which the cottages shall appear to grow out of the 
rocks and to be born of the woods. In some instances I have 
succeeded, but most people have been too busy in other occupa- 
tions to study a cultivated and harmonizing taste. "When a 
style of rural refinement shall prevail — when the hills and cliffs 
shall be adorned with buildings in accordance with the scenery 
around — and when men, instead of cutting down every tree 
and shrub, shall re-clothe nature with the drapery of her appro- 
priate foliage, Lynn will appear much more lovely and interest- 
ing than at present. [But Mr. Lewis himself lived to see the 
day of better taste arrive. The style of architecture has won- 
derfully improved within the last twenty years. And could all 
the elegant residences that are now scattered in every direc- 
tion, be gathered into one quarter, they would form an array 
which could be equalled by few places out of the leading cities. 
Our romantic hills are beginning to be adorned by structures 
becoming in style and challenging the admiration of the traveler. 
Some of the most beautiful gardens in New England are like- 
wise here to be found. Our newly-erected manufactories are 
on a far more extensive and durable scale than the old. And 
our streets and other public places have been greatly beautified 
by the planting of numerous ornamental trees. In short, it 
may be fairly claimed that the external progress of Lynn has 
kept pace with her moral and intellectual advancement.] 

The eminences in different parts of the town, furnish a great 
variety of pleasing prospects. High Rock, near the centre of 
the town, is an abrupt cliff, one hundred and seventy feet in 
height. The view from this rock is very extensive and beauti- 
ful. On the east is the pleasant village of Swampscot, with its 
cluster of slender masts, and its beaches covered with boats — 
Baker's island with its light — the white towers of Marblehead — 
and the distant headland of Cape Ann. On the right is Bunker 
Hill, with its obelisk of granite — the majestic dome, and the 
lofty spires of Boston — the beautiful green islands, with the 
forts and light houses in the Bay — and far beyond,, the Blue 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 69 

Hills, softly mingling with the sky. On the north is a vast 
range of hill and forest, above which rises the misty summit of 
Wachiisett. Before you is the town of Lynn, with its white 
houses and green trees — the rail-road cars gliding as if by 
magic across the landscape — the Long Beach, stretching out 
in its beauty — the dark rocks of Nahant, crowned with roman- 
tic cottages — Egg Rock, in its solitary dignity — and the vast 
ocean, spreading out in its interminable grandeur. There too 
may be seen a hundred dories of the fishermen, skimming lightly 
over the waves — the Swampscot, jiggers, bounding like sea 
birds over the billows — a hundred ships, ploughing the deep 
waters — and the mighty steamers wending their way to and 
from England. The whole is a splendid panorama of the mag- 
nificent Bay of Massachusetts. 

Lover's Leap is a beautiful and romantic elevation near the 
northern end of Grove street, and a mile northwest from High 
Rock. It is a steep cliff, on the side of a hill clothed Avith wood, 
one hundred and thirty-three feet in height — that is, thirty-three 
feet to the base of the hill, and one hundred feet above. It 
furnishes a pleasant view of a large portion of the town. 

Pine Hill is half a mile west from Lover's Leap. It is two 
hundred and twenty-four feet in height. The southwestern 
extremity of this hill is called Sadler's Rock, wdiich is one hun- 
dred and sixty-six feet high. A small distance northward of this, 
is a cliif, by the road side, which was struck by lightning in 1807, 
when a portion of the rock, about 12 tons weight, ^vas split off, 
and thrown nearly two hundred feet; the bolt leaving its deep 
traces down the side of the rock. A few rods beyond, where 
the road is crossed by a brook, is a flat rock, in which is im- 
pressed the print of a cloven foot, apparently that of a cow or 
moose. A stone, lying near, bears the deep impress of a child's 
feet. 

Sagamore Hill is a very pleasant eminence at the northern 
end of Long Beach, sixty-six feet in height. It slopes to the 
harbor on one side, and to the ocean on the other, and has the 
town lying beautifully in the back ground. [Since this was 
written Sagamore Hill has become covered by residences, some 
of them very fine, and affording charming landscape and marine 
views.] Half a mile eastward is Red Rock, which forms a very 



70 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

pretty little promontory in the ocean. Many spots in the hills 
and forests of Lynn are beautifully wild and romantic. There 
is a delightful walk on the eastern bank of Saugus River, which 
passes through one of the loveliest pine groves imaginable. On 
the eastern side of this river also is the Pirates' Glen, respecting 
which a legend will be found under date 1658. The view from 
Round Hill, in Saugus, is delightful. 

There are seven ponds in Lynn, several of which are large, 
having the appearance of little lakes. Their names are Cedar — 
Tomlins's — Flax — Lily — Floating Bridge — Phillips's — In- 
galls's. And there is Bear Pond, on Nahant. The first three 
of these are connected with Saugus River by Strawberry Brook, 
on which are many mills and factories. The margins of some 
of these lakes are very pleasant, and will probably, at some more 
tasteful period, be adorned with beautiful villas and delightful 
cottages. The water in Tomlins's Pond is sixty feet above the 
ocean. Floating Bridge Pond is crossed by a bridge which 
floats on the water. It is four hundred and fifty-six feet in 
length, and is quite a curiosity, reminding one of the Persian 
bridge of boats across the Hellespont. 

Springs are abundant — some of them exceedingly cold and 
pure, and good water is easily obtained. [William Wood, the 
early Lynn settler and author of New England's Prospect, be- 
fore alluded to, was delighted with the water hereabout. He 
says, " it is farr different from the waters of England, being not 
so sharp but of a fatter substance, and of a more jettie color ; 
it is thought there can be no better water in the world ; yet dare 
I not prefer it before good beere, as some have done ; but any 
man will choose it before bad beere, whey, or buttermilk."] 
There are several fine springs at Nahant, particularly North 
Spring, which is remarkably cold, flowing from an aperture 
beneath a cliff, into which the sun never shines. [See page 
63, for notice of recent improvements in this neighborhood.] 
One of the early inhabitants of Nahant, having a violent fever, 
asked for water, which, as usual in such cases, was denied him ; 
but, watching an opportunity, he escaped from his bed, ran half 
a mile to this spring, drank as much water as he wanted, and 
immediately recovered. A curious boiling spring, called Hol- 
yoke Spring, surrounded by willows, is found in a meadow, 



^ 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 71 

near tlic western end of Holyoke street. Another boiling 
spring may be seen in the clay meadow, near the centre of Sau- 
gus. There is also a mineral spring in the western part of that 
town, near the Maiden line. 

[But the most noted mineral spring in this region is that 
near the eastern border of the town, on the margin of Spring 
Pond, which lies within the limits of Salem. The waters are 
impregnated with iron and sulphur, and were formerly much 
esteemed for their good effects in scorbutic and pulmonary affec- 
tions. It has been popularly called the Red Spring, its waters 
having a reddish hue, imparted, probably, by the iron. About 
the close of century 1600, Dr. John Caspar Richter van Crown- 
inscheldt, purchased the adjacent lands and settled on them, 
directing his attention chiefly to farming. He was a gentleman 
widely known and of good reputation. The present prominent 
Crowninshield family descended from him. At his romantic 
retreat eminent personages were sometimes entertained. The 
celebrated Cotton Mather, among others, visited him, partook 
of the waters of the spring, and in one of his elaborate works 
extols their virtues. The situation is delightful. The little 
lake, which has received the pretty name of Lynnmere, nestles 
so cozily and smiles so brightly between the thickly wooded 
hills that it might almost be imagined there had been a compact 
that it should be shielded from the wild winds that would agitate 
its bosom, in return for the refreshing exhalations it might 
send up to renovate the drooping foliage. Upon the western 
bank, which rises gracefully to a considerable height, was erect- 
ed, in 1810, the edifice long known as Lynn Mineral Spring 
Hotel. It was a favorite summer resort; and no inland retreat 
could be more charming. There was fishing in the pond, fowl- 
ing in the woods, and beautiful drives in all directions. 

[In 1847, Richard S. Fay, Esq., purchased the estate and also 
many acres of the adjoining territory, and made his summer 
residence there. A very large number of foreign trees have 
been planted ; England and France are represented ; the Black 
Forest of Ci-ermany ; and even Russia and Siberia. There is a 
pleasing variety of grove and lawn, pasture and arable ground, 
woodland and meadow. And altogether the landscape is one 
of uncommon freshness and vigor. In traversing the grounds 



72 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

one is forcibly reminded of feudal days and baronial domains. 
And if the ivyed walls of an ancient castle could be discerned 
peering from some rocky crest across the lake, the illusion 
migjit be complete. There are various historical facts of inter- 
est connected with this pleasant locality, some of which will be 
alluded to under dates 1676, 1682, and 1700. At the last date 
Dr. Crowninscheldt bought the es+ate of Elizabeth Allen, of 
Salem, which must have lain near his previous purchase, and 
which gave him quite an extensive area. Or else a mistake 
has prevailed as to the date of his settlement here, and her 
deed indicates the period of his first coming. The deed men-- 
tions buildings, and hence the inference that there were settlers 
somewhere in the vicinity of the Pond before the time of its 
date. Mr. Lewis elsewhere remarks that Dr. Crowninscheldt, 
who was a German, as his name indicates, was the first white 
man who settled at the Spring, having built a cottage there, 
about the year 1690 ; and adds that at the time he wrote, (1844) 
several of the old apple trees, planted by him, were still stand- 
ing in the garden.] 

Lynn furnishes an admirable study for the geologist. The 
northern part of the town abounds with rocky hills, composed 
of porphyry, greenstone, and sienite. Porphyry commences at 
Red Rock, and passing through the town in a curve toward the 
northwest, forms a range of hills, including High Rock, Lover's 
Leap, and Sadler's Rock. The term porphyry is derived from 
a Greek word signifying purple. It is composed of feldspar and 
quartz, and is of various colors — purple, red, gray, brown, and 
black. It gives fire Avith steel, and is susceptible of a high 
polish ; the best specimens being very beautiful, equalling the 
porphyry of the ancients. The western portion of the town 
comprises ledges and hills of brecciated porphyry ; that is, por- 
phyry which has been broken into fragments, and then cemented 
by a fluid. The porphyry formation continues on through Sau- 
gus. Near the Pirates' Glen is a ledge, which is being disinte- 
grated into very coarse gravel, having the appearance of pumice 
or rotten stone. Specimens of clinkstone porphyry are found, 
which, when struck', give Out a metallic sound. At Lover's 
Leap, and elsewhere, the porphyry seems to be subsiding into 
fine hornstone. At Sadler's Rock, it is of a very delicate purple. 



,mS^MM?M^-M. 



■Ill' 







TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 73 

The hills in the eastern section of the town, including the 
ledges and clififs at Swampscot, consist of a coarse-grained 
greenstone, composed of hornblende and feldspar. In opening 
these ledges, dendrites of manganese have been found, beauti- 
fully disposed in the form of trees and shrubs. [I have found 
numbers of very fine ones, in the vicinity of Sadler's Rock ; 
some of them so striking as almost to induce the belief that 
nature had in some mysterious way been operating by the pho- 
tographic process.] This tract of greenstone extends through 
the town, north of the porphyry hills. In many places it is 
beautifully veined with quartz, and other substances. A little 
north from the Iron Works, in Saugus, is a great ledge by the 
roadside, with a singular vein passing through it, having the 
appearance of a flight of stairs. On the eastern bank of the 
river, southward from the Iron Works, is a wild, tremendous 
ledge, from which many vast fragments have fallen, and others 
seem ready to topple on the head of the beholder. 

The northern section of the town comprises fine beds of sie- 
nite, of a grayish color, composed of feldspar, hornblende, and 
quartz. It has its name from Siena, in Egypt. It is found in 
great variety, from very fine to very coarse, and is used for 
building, and for mill-stones. From the presence of iron ore, it 
frequently attracts the compass, and occasions much difficulty 
in surveying. At one place in the Lynn woods, the north end 
of the needle pointed south ; and at another, it went round 
forty times in a minute. 

Granite occurs, but chiefly in roundish masses, or boulders, 
composed of feldspar, quartz, and mica. It is not so frequent 
as formerly, the best specimens having been used for building. 
It is remarkable, that nearly all these boulders appear to have 
been brought, by a strong flood from a considerable distance 
north ; and many of them were left in very peculiar and some- 
times surprising positions, on the tops of the highest hills and 
ledges. One of these, near the Salem line, rested on the angu- 
lar point of a rock, and was a great curiosity, until that rage for 
destructiveness, which exists in some people, caused it to be 
blown down by powder. Another boulder, fourteen feet in 
diameter, weighing full one hundred and thirty tons, lay on the 
very summit of the ells' next east from Sadler's Rock. It appear- 
G 



74 HISTORY OF LTNN. 

ed to repose so loosely that a strong wind might rock it ; yet 
it required fifteen men, with levers, to roll it down. [And this 
may have been the rock that tradition avers the enterprising 
proprietor of the land had discharged from its ancient resting 
place, by offering a certain quantity of rum for its removal. 
And the fifteen alluded to may have been the jolly topers who 
undertook the job. Near the foot of the hill the ponderous 
mass formed an indentation that operated usefully as a reser- 
voir, supplying the neighborhood, for many years, with excellent 
water.] A boulder of breccia, on the boundary line between 
Lynn and Saugus, rests on a ledge of breccia of a different 
character, and appears to have been removed from its original 
situation in the north. It is twelve feet in diameter, weighing 
eighty-three tons. On this line also is a still greater curiosity — 
a vast rock of greenstone, which appears to have been brought 
from its bed in the north, and placed on the summit of a hill, 
where it forms a very picturesque object. It was originally 
sixteen feet in diameter, weighing two hundred tons ; but sev- 
eral large portions have been detached, either by frost or light- 
ning, perhaps both. It must have been a tremendous torrenL, 
which could have removed rocks of such magnitude, and placed 
them on such elevations, [May not such phenomena be referred 
to the glacier period ?] Many boulders of granite now lie on 
the summit of Little Nahant. The cliffs at this place are green- 
stone. A conglomerate rock, or boulder of breccia, of a very 
peculiar character, lies in the tide, on the south side of Little 
Nahant. It is a spheroid, eighteen feet in diameter, weighing 
two hundred and sixty tons. Its singular disposition of colors 
renders it a great curiosity. 

The western and southern portions of Great Nahant are com- 
posed of fine and coarse grained greenstones, and greenstone 
porphyry. The hills and ledges on the northern side are sienite ; 
and on the northeast, they are a coarse-grained greenstone, 
blending into sienite. The southeastern portion is composed 
of stratified rocks of argillaceous limestone, and argillaceous 
slate, variously combined, and traversed by immense veins of 
greenstone. The rocks, in this part, present a very peculiar 
appearance, both in their combination and disposition ; consist- 
ing of immense masses, and irregular fragments, cracked and 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 75 

broken in every direction. Were we to suppose a portion of 
one of the asteroids, in an ignited state, to have been precipita- 
ted through the atmosphere, from the southeast, and striking 
the earth in an angle of forty degrees, to have been shissered 
into an infinite number of fragments, it would probably present 
the appearance which Nahant now exhibits. There must have 
been some tremendous up-heaving to have produced such re- 
sults ; and it is not improbable that a volcano has more than 
once been busy among the foundations of Nahant. 

On the northern shore is a vast ledge of pure hornblende, so 
very black and shining as to have deceived early voyagers and 
founders into the belief that it was a mine of iron ore. A very 
curious vein of fine greenstone, two inches in thickness, passes 
through this ledge, for more than two hundred feet, in a direc- 
tion from southeast to northwest. Eastward from this, the rock 
is traversed by veins of various colors, and in different direc- 
tions ; evidently produced by the action of fire. The primitive 
rock appears to have been strongly heated, and to have cracked 
in cooling. A fissure was thus formed, through which a liquid 
mass was erupted, which again heated the rock, and as it cooled, 
formed another fissure in a transverse direction. This was filled 
by a third substance ; a similar process followed ; and the orig- 
inal rock, and the preceding veins, were traversed by a fourth 
formation. 

At Nahant are found porphyry, gneiss, and hornstone. It also 
presents regular strata of foliated feldspar; and, perhaps, the 
only instance in New England, in which trap rock exhibits such 
parallel divisions. Here also are found jasper, chalcedony, and 
agate ; with prase, prehnite, chert, chlorite, datholite, dolomite, 
quartz, epidote, rhomb spar, carbonate of lime, and lignified as- 
bestos. At Crystal Beach are fine specimens of crystalized 
corundum, probably the only locality of this mineral in the 
United States. These crystals are in six-sided prisms, termin- 
ated by hexagonal pyramids, half an inch in diameter, and from 
two to five inches in length, single and in clusters. Swallows' 
Cave is composed of greenstone ; Pulpit Rock of argillaceous 
slate ; Castle Rock of greenstone ; Egg Rock of compact feld- 
spar. Mineral teeth are formed by the fusion of pure feldspar. 

In Saugus are found most of the rocks common to Lynn. 



76 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

Here are rocks of red and green jasper, with antimony and bog 
iron ore in abundance. An account of the Iron Works anciently 
established here, will be found in the following pages. Lead 
ore has also been discovered in the western part of the town. 
In the northern part, sulphate of iron is found. Extensive beds 
of very fine clay exist near the centre of the town, which have 
been wrought into pottery. In 1830, a very singular discovery 
was made near the old tavern on the west of Saugus River. It 
consisted of a mass of very fine and beautiful blue sand, which 
lay in a hard gravel bed, about one foot below the surface. 
There were about eight quarts of it. This sand has a very 
sharp grit, yet it is as fine as can easily be imagined, and as 
blue as the bluest pigment. Viewed through a magnifying 
glass, it appears bright and sparkling, like the finest possible 
particles of silver. At Lynnfield, an extensive quarry of serpen- 
tine has been opened. 

A large portion of Lynn bears strong evidence both of allu- 
vial and diluvial formations. That part between the porphyry 
hills and the harbor, is chiefly composed of strata of sand, clay, 
and gravel, covered by loam and soil. The clay and gravel 
vary in thickness from two to fifteen feet. On the borders of 
Saugus River are extensive tracts of salt marsh, the mud of 
which is from two to twenty feet in depth ; and it is probable 
that this portion was once covered by the ocean. There are 
also evidences that a much larger quantity of water has at some 
time been discharged by the Saugus River ; and this accords 
with an Indian tradition. Just above the Iron Works, the river 
diverges toward the west ; but a great valley continues toward 
the north. Whoever is curious to trace this valley several 
miles, may be satisfied that a great flood has at some time 
passed through it; and perhaps it was this torrent which 
brought the boulders, and swept down the soil which now con- 
stitutes the bed of the marshes. 

These great tracts of marsh, called by the first settlers Rum- 
ney Marsh, are in Lynn, Saugus, and Chelsea. They lie be- 
tween the porphyiy hills and the sea, and are about a mile in 
breadth, and nearly three miles in extent. The western portion 
of these marshes are protected by Chelsea Beach, a long ridge 
of sand which has been thrown up by the tide, and lies against 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 77 

their southern margin. The eastern section is defended from 
the sea by the Lynn Beach, which lies a mile distant, with the 
harbor inside. Throughout this region of marsh are trunks of 
great trees, chiefly pines, imbedded from two to four feet be- 
neath the surface, and in a good state of preservation. The salt 
water frequently covers these marshes from two to three feet. 
Many of these trees lie in a direction from north to south, as if 
they had been blown down by a strong north wind, on the spot 
where they grew. But that is probably the direction in which 
they would have been deposited, if brought down by a great 
northern current. Others lie in different directions. If we 
suppose these trees to have grown where they now lie, we 
have the singular anomaly of a vast forest of great trees, grow- 
ing from two to six feet below the high tides of salt water. Nor 
will it assist us any to suppose that this forest was protected 
from the sea by a great ridge or beach ; for a river comes down 
from the north, and they must then have grown at a greater 
depth beneath fresh water. The probability that they were 
brought from their original forest by a great northern current, 
is strengthened by the fact that on the west of these marshes is 
a great region of mounds of sand and gravel, from twenty to 
one hundred feet in height, in digging through which, portions 
of trees have beea found. Another fact will be interesting to 
the geologist, that though all the neighboring hills are covered 
with trees, these mounds, though clothed with grass, are desti- 
tute of foliage ; and William Wood, more than two centuries 
ago, describes them as " upland grass, without tree or shrub." 
An alluvion commences at Humfrey's Beach, and passes up 
Stacey's Brook, beneath which is another fine stratum of clay. 
In this tract are some rich peat meadows, which were formerly 
ponds. The peat is a formation of decomposed vegetables, and 
is dug by a kind of long spade, which cuts it into regular solids, 
about four inches square, and two feet in length. It is then 
piled and dried for fuel, and produces a constant and intense 
heat. A meadow between Fayette and Chatham streets, con- 
tains an alluvial deposit of rich black soil, twelve feet in depth. 
In digging to the depth of three feet, the trunk of a large oak 
was found ; and at the depth of six feet, a stratum of leaves and 
burnt wood. In various other places, the fallen trunks of great 



78 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

trees have been found, from three to six feet below the surface, 
with large trees growing above them. In the north part of 
Lynn, and in Saugus, are several large swamps, remarkable for 
the great depth of vegetable matter, and for the wonderful pres- 
ervation of wood in them. Many acres of these swamps have 
been cleared, and several hundred cords of wood taken from 
them, and charred into good coal. And still beneath these 
depths appears to be a " lower deep," filled with wood partially 
decayed. The whole southern section of the toAvn, also, pre- 
sents strong evidences of great geological changes. Whoever 
visits Chelsea Beach, which extends westward from Lynn Har- 
bor, may perceive that a new beach has been thrown up, outside 
the old one ; and the appearance gives great confidence in the 
Indian tradition, that this beach was thrown up by a great 
storm, in a single night. The Lynn Beach was once much far- 
ther out than at present ; and within it was a swamp, covered 
by large pines and cedars, forming an isthmus from Lynn to 
Nahant. The beach was thrown up against the eastern shore 
of this isthmus, and a succession of great storm tides have driv- 
en it in, until the whole isthmus has been submerged by water 
and sand. By my own surveys, I find that this beach has moved 
five rods within twelve years, and now covers many acres of 
marshy ground, which were on the western .side. After great 
storms, portions of this marsh, covered by the stumps of trees, 
frequently appear on the eastern side. This beach has been so 
much injured, there is reason to apprehend that the tides may 
sweep over and destroy it. Such an event is greatly to be 
deprecated, both as it regards its beauty and utility ; for the 
existence of the harbor depends on its durability. If the plan 
be completed, which I proposed, of making a barrier of cedar, 
it may be saved. I hope that public spirit enough may be found, 
to preserve this great natural curiosity for the admiration of 
future generations. [The sagacity of these observations was 
soon verified. See under date 1851.] 

Most of the trees and plants common to New England, are 
found at Lynn, and some which are rare and valuable. The 
principal trees are white and pitch pine, white and red cedar, 
oak, walnut, maple, birch and hemlock. One of the most com- 
mon shrubs is the barberry, the root of which is used in dyeing 



\ 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 79 

yellow, and the fruit is an excellent preserve. [The barberry- 
is an exotic, called, in England, the pepperidge bush. The early 
settlers introduced some plants for which after generations had 
no cause to be thankful. Among them were the white-weed 
and wood-wax. But the barberry seems to hold a doubtful 
rank. As Mr. Lewis remarks, its root is useful in dyeing, and 
its fruit affords an agreeable preserve. But its prevalence in 
pasture lands was found to be highly detrimental, insomuch that 
the law interposed, a hundred years ago, to check its increase. 
It however requires such a peculiarity of soil that to this day it 
has not spread over a great extent of territory. Even in most 
parts of Massachusetts a barberry bush was never seen.] Many " 
tons of sumach are annually gathered, and used in the manufac- 
ture of morocco leather. Whortleberries are very plenty in 
the pastures and many hundred bushels are annually gathered. 
Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and cranberries, are also 
common. The forests, fields, and meadows, are rich in the 
abundance and variety of medicinal plants, and the town presents 
a fine field for the botanist. [Wilham Wood, while taking a 
botanical survey, was so elated as to find plain prose insufiicient 
for his occasion, and therefore called in the aid of poetry, after 
this manner : 

Trees both in hills aud plaines, in plenty be, 

The long liv'd Oake, and mournful Cypris tree, 

Skie-toAvering Pines, and Chesnuts coated rough, 

The lasting Cedar, with the Walnut tough ; 

The rosin-dropping Firr for masts in use ; 

The boatmen seeke for oares, light, neat grown Sprewse, 

The brittle Ash, the ever-trembling Aspes, 

The broad-spread Elme, whose concave harbors waspes ; 

The water-spongie Alder, good for nought, 

Small Elderne by th' Indian Fletchers sought, 

The knottie Maple, pallid Birtch, Hawthornes, 

The Hornbound tree that to be cloven scornes, 

Which, from the tender Vme oft takes its spouse, 

Who twinds imbracing armes about his boughes. 

Within this Lidian Orchard fruits be some, 

The ruddie Chen-ie and the jettie Plumbe, 

Snake muilheriug Hazell, with sweet Saxaplu'age, 

Whose spumes in beere allays hot fevers rage, 

The diars [dyer's] Shumach, with more trees there be, 

That ai-e both good to use and rare to see.J 



80 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

Great numbers of wild birds, of almost every kind, frequent 
the woods and waters of Lynn. Numerous sea-fowl afford 
amusement to the sportsman ; and there is scarcely a bird com- 
mon to North America, which does not, at some season of the 
year, gratify our ears with its song, or delight our eyes by its 
plumage. A great variety of fishes, also, are found in the 
waters. Haddock, halibut, cod, bass, and mackerel, are taken 
in abundance in boats ; and nippers and tautog are caught by 
dozens, with hook and line, from the cliffs of Nahant. Hun- 
dreds, and sometimes thousands of lobsters are daily taken, in 
the proper season, by traps which are set around the shores ; 
and alewives in abundance are caught in the streams in the 
month of May. To give a particular description of all the 
animal and vegetable productions, would be to write a volume. 
In the coves around Nahant, that very singular vegetable animal, 
called the sea-anemone, or rose-fish, is found. They grow on 
the rocks in the deep pools, and when extended, are from six 
to eight inches in length, furnished with antenna, or feelers, 
which they put out to seek for their food ; but if touched, they 
shrink close to the rock, ^nd remain folded like a rose. On 
summer evenings, the meadows exhibit a beautiful appearance, 
being illuminated by thoiisands of fire-flies, which appear to 
take ineffable delight in enlivening the gloom by their phospho- 
ric radiance. One of them in a dark room, will emit sufiicient 
light to read the finest print. 

Some portions of the soil are very fertile, but generally it is 
rather hard and acidulous. The pastures produce barberries, 
the woodlands grapes ; the meadows are filled with cranberries, 
the marshes with samphire ; and the fields, when neglected, run 
into sorrel. Much dependence is placed upon sea weeds for 
the enrichment of the lands ; but the soil would be much more 
permanently improved by the rich mud from the bed of the 
harbor. 

I The climate of Lynn is generally healthy, but the prevalence 
of east winds is a subject of complaint for invalids, especially 
those afilicted with pulmonary disorders. That these winds are 
not generally detrimental to health is evident from the fact, that 
the people of Nahant, surrounded by the sea, and subject to all 
its breezes, are unusually healthy. From some cause, however, 



TOPOGEAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 81 

there are a great number of dealhs by consumption. Formerly, 
a death by this disease was a rare occurrence, and then the in- 
dividual was ill for many years, and the subjects were usually* 
aged persons. In 1727, when a young man died of consumption 
at the age of nineteen, it was noticed as a remarkable circum- 
stance ,- but now, young people frequently die of that disease 
after an illness of a few months. Of three hundred and sixteen 
persons, whose deaths were noticed in the First Parish for about 
twenty years previous to 1824, a hundred and twelve were the 
subjects of consumption ; and in some years since, more than 
half the deaths have been occasioned by that insidious malady. 
There is something improper and unnatural in this. It is doubj;- 
less owing to the habits of the people, to their confinement in 
close rooms, over hot stoves, and to their want of exercise, free 
air, and ablution. It is owing to their violation of some of the 
great laws of nature. To one accustomed, as I have always 
been, to ramble by the sea shore, and on the hill top, to breathe 
the ocean wind and the mountain air, this close confinement of 
the shops would be a living death. Were it not for the social 
intercourse, I would as soon be confined in a prison cell as in a 
room twelve feet square, with a hot stove, and six or eight per- 
sons breathing the heated air over and over again, long after it is 
rendered unfit to sustain life. If mechanics find it convenient 
to work together in shops, they should build them longer and 
higher, and have them well ventilated. The subject of bathing, 
too, requires more attention. There are many people in Lynn, 
as there are in all other places, who never washed themselves all 
over in their lives, and who would as soon think of taking a 
journey through the air in a balloon, as of going under water. 
How they contrive to exist I cannot imagine ; they certainly do 
not exist in the highest degree of happiness, if happiness con- 
sists in the enjoyment of that free and buoyant mind which is 
nourished by pure air and clean water. Some of these water 
haters, a few years since made a law, that boys should not bathe 
in sight of any house; yet they have furnished no bathing 
houses ; and there are no secluded places, excepting where the 
lives of children would be endangered. Thus they not only 
refuse to bathe themselves, but prevent the young, by a heavy 
penalty, from enjoying one of the Durest blessings and highest 

6 



82 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

luxuries of existence. Perhaps notliing is more conducive to 
health than sea bathing. I do not wish for a return of the 
'" olden time," with all its errors and absurdities, but I do desire 
a return to that simplicity which is born of purity. 

The climate here is subject to sudden changes, and great 
extremes of heat and cold, being strangely mixed up with beau- 
tiful sunlight and horrid storms, moonshiny evenings and long 
days of cold rain, bright blue sky and impenetrable fogs. Eu- 
ropean poets tell us of the charms of May, and the song of the 
nightingale ; our pleasant month is June, and the whip-poor- 
will is our bird of love. The months of June, July, and August 
aye usually delightful ; and in October and November we have 
the Indian summer. The temperature is then soft and agreea- 
ble, and a pleasing haze fills the atmosphere. Sometimes the 
sky is " darkly, deeply, beautifully blue ; " and sunset is often 
80 gorgeously glorious, that the art of the painter cannot por- 
tray it. The months of May and September usually abound 
with chilly rain storms, and dismal, drizzly days. After these 
succeed the two pleasantest portions of the year. The cold 
season continues from December to April, and we have snow 
in each of these months, from three inches to three feet in 
depth. As winter approaches, the forests are arrayed in the 
most splendid and beautiful colors ; exhibiting almost every 
variety of shade, from pale green, and dark brown, to bright 
yellow and deep scarlet. Not only are single leaves thus col- 
ored, but whole trees and masses of foliage are vividly tinctured 
with the most pleasing and variegated hues. [Many still sup- 
pose that these beautiful changes are produced by frost. But 
observation shows that they are caused by the ripening of the 
foliage. In some species of vegetation the change commences 
much earlier than in other. The white maple usually appears 
in its gorgeous apparel weeks before the frosts come ; and the 
same may be said of the white birch and the woodbine.] In 
winter, the weather is often, for many days together, exceed- 
ingly cold, and the moonlight most intensely brilliant. 

The unequal refraction of the atmosphere frequently occasions 
peculiar and curious appearances on the water. Sometimes the 
sun, when it rises through a dense atmosphere, appears greatly 
elongated in its vertical diameter. Presently it appears double, 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 83 

the two parts being connected together by a neck. At length 
two suns are distinctly seen ; the refracted sun appearing wholly 
above the water, before the true sun has risen. I have repeat- 
edly seen and admired this surprising and exceedingly beautiful 
phenomenon. Some critics, because Pentheus saw two suns 
rising over Thebes, have drawn the inference that he could not 
have been a member of the temperance society ; but his vision 
might have been merely assisted by refraction : . 

He saw two suns, and double Thebes appear. — Drtden's Virgil. 
This mirage, or loom, frequently causes Nahant, Egg Rock, and 
vessels on the coast, to appear nearly twice their natural height, 
and sometimes to seem actually elevated in the air, so as to 
leave a space beneath them. Portions of the south shore, also, 
which are commonly invisible, appear plainly in sight. It was 
undoubtedly this effect of the mirage which occasioned the 
story of the Phantom Ship at New Haven, and the Flying 
Dutchman. 

The temperature of Nahant, being moderated by sea-breezes, 
so as to be cooler in summer and milder in winter, than the 
main land, is regarded as being highly conducive to health. It 
is delightful in summer to ramble round this romantic peninsula, 
and to examine at leisure its interesting curiofsities — to hear 
the waves rippling the colored pebbles of the beaches, and see 
them gliding over the projecting ledges in fanciful cascades — 
to behold the plovers and sand-pipers running along the beaches, 
tMe seal slumbering upon the outer rocks, the white gulls soaring 
overhead, the porpoises pursuing their rude gambols along the 
shore, and the curlew, the loon, the black duck and the coot — 
the brant with his dappled neck, and the oldwife with her 
strange, wild, vocal melody, swimming gracefully in the coves, 
and rising and sinking with the swell of the tide. The moon- 
light evenings here are exceedingly lovely; and the phosphoric 
radiance of the billows, in dark nights, making the waters look 
like a sea of fire — exhibits a scene of wonderful beauty. 

[In its more distinguishing features, our sea-shore region 
suffers little change in the progress of time. In most places, as 
years roll on, population increases, and the devastating hand 
of man is constantly changing the aspect of things, so that the 
admired scenes of one decade of years are known only as pleasant 



84 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



memories in the next. Even here, however, are some evidences 
of the success of the general conspiracy against nature. The 
birds, to which Mr. Lewis so often and so fondly alludes, have 
almost entirely disappeared ; and he who would come hither for 
8ea-fowling will be likely to find his only reward in that moral 
discipline which is the efi'ect of disappointed expectation. A sol- 
itary note is now and then heard, it is true ; but it is more like 
the wail of a vexed spirit than the joyous outpouring of happy 
life. But the rugged battlements of rock, and the glistening 
beaches, remain as they were in the days of the early visitors. 
And above all, old ocean sustains his integrity — whether calmly 
sleeping in the summer sunshine, raving in the winter storm, or 
rolling dreamily beneath the ruling moon.] 




MOONLIGHT VIEW AT NAHANT. 

But, however delightful Nahant may appear in summer, it is 
surpassed by the grandeur and sublimity of a winter storm. 
When the strong east wind has been sweeping over the Atlantic 
for several days, and the billows, wrought up to fury, are foam- 
ing along like living mountains — breaking upon the precipitous 
cliffs — dashing into the rough gorges — thundering in the sub- 
terranean caverns of rock, and throwing the white foam and 



/ 



TOPOGRAPHY AND PHENOMENA. 85 

spray, like vast columns of smoke, hundreds of feet into the air, 
above the tallest cliflfs — an appearance is presented which the 
wildest imagination cannot surpass. Then the ocean — checked 
in its headlong career by a simple bar of sand — as if mad with 
its detention, roars like protracted thunder ; and the wild sea 
birds, borne along by the furious waters are dashed to death 
against the cliffs ! Standing at such an hour upon the rocks, I 
have seen the waves bend bars of iron, an inch in diameter, 
double — float rocks of granite, sixteen feet in length, as if they 
were timbers of wood — and the wind, seizing the white gull in 
its irresistible embrace, bear her, struggling and shrieking, many '" 
miles into Lynn woods ! In summer, a day at Nahant is delight- 
ful — but a storm in winter is glorious ! 

[The grand and picturesque scenery in and about Lynn was 
early brought to notice, and hither have long been attracted 
the learned, and the most refined of Nature's devotees. The 
historian and poet have delighted to wander amid the woods 
that wave and whisper on our sunny hills, and clamber among 
the ocean-worn battlements that guard our shores. Within these 
pleasant borders have they loved to pursue their favorite 
studies ; and, we may fondly believe, some of the most sterling 
works that adorn the literature of the age have here received 
the inspiration that the magnificent and beautiful in nature 
always impart to the cultivated mind. At Nahant, in his pic- 
turesque home, just above the resounding arches of Swallow's 
Cave, Prescott labored on the glowing pages of his Ferdinand 
and Isabella, and his Conquest of Mexico ; and at his residence 
on Ocean street, in Lynn, he wrote the thrilling chapters of 
Philip the Second. At Nahant, also, in the modest mansion 
of Mrs. Hood, in the evening shade of the decrepit willows that 
yet stand in front of Whitney's tavern, Mottey spent many and 
many a quiet hour in the preparatory studies of his great His- 
tory of the Dutch Republic. And the learned Agassiz still 
delights, year by year, to come hither and in quietude explore 
the mysterious and contemplate the beautiful in nature. At 
the unostentatious homestead of Jonathan Johnson, Lonofellow 
produced many of the charming strains of his world-renowned 
Hiawatha ; and there, also, he wrote his Ladder of Saint Augus- 
tine. And Willis says, "Some of my earliest and raciest enjoy- 
H 



86 mSTOEY OF LYNN. 

ments, both of driving and writing, were spent at Naliant." Nor 
should it be forgotten that the learned Felton loved to retire 
from the halls of Harvard, and here breathe the invigorating air 
and bathe in the renovating waters. And as he, in declining 
life, found here a delightful field of recreation, so in youth he 
found among the rough hills of Saugus, a field of homely toil. 
In 1815, when a boy, he came, with his father's family, to the 
corner of Chelsea which belonged, as a parish, to Saugus, the 
father filling the humble oflSce of toll-gatherer on Newburyport 
turnpike. In winters, young Felton went to the town schools 
of Saugus, with one or two exceptions. One winter he attended 
the school of Miss Cheever, and another, that of Rev. Joseph 
Emerson. At other times he worked at farming. One season 
he part of the time rode plough horses at twenty-five cents a 
day. Subsequently, he went to school, one quarter, to Mr. 
Thatcher, formerly minister of the first parish of Lynn, who 
then taught a private school at Maiden. There he studied 
Latin and read novels till the excitement threw him into a 
fever that nearly proved fatal. He afterward went one quarter 
to Bradford Academy. Early in the summer of 1822, he went 
to Mr, Putnam's, at North Andover, intending to remain only 
one quarter. But Mr. Putnam, finding him a lad of great prom- 
ise, urged him, though very poor, to persevere for the attainment 
of a college education. He struggled on. And we finally be- 
hold him the revered head of the first university in the land.] 



SHOES AND SHOEMAKING. 

Ladies' Shoes began to be made in Lynu at a very early 
period ; and that business has long been the principal occupa- 
tion of the inhabitants. Shoemaking is a very ancient and 
respectable employment, for we read in Homer, of princes man- 
ufacturing their own shoes. They have been made of various 
materials — hides, flax, silk, cloth, wood, iron, silver, and gold — 
and in great variety of shape, plain and ornamental. Among 
the Jews they were made of leather, linen, and wood. Soldiers 
wore them of brass and iron, tied with thongs. To put ofi" the 
shoes was an act of veneration. The Asiatics and Egyptians 
wore shoes made of the bark of the papyrus. Among the 
Greeks, the shoe generally reached to the mid-leg, like what 



SHOES AND SHOEMAKING. 87 

we now call bootees. Ladies, as a mark of distinction, wore 
sandals — a sort of loose shoe, something like a modern slipper. 
Xenophon relates that the ten thousand Greeks, who followed 
young Cyrus, wanting shoes in their retreat, covered their feet 
with raw hides, which occasioned them great injury. The Ro- 
man shoes were of two kinds — the calceus, which covered the 
whole foot ; and the solea, which covered only the sole, and was 
fastened with thongs. Ladies of rank wore white, and some- 
times red shoes ; other women wore black. The shoes of some 
of the Roman emperors were enriched with precious stones. 
It was generally regarded as a mark of effeminacy for men to 
woar shoes. Phocion, Cato, and other noble Romans, had no 
covering for their feet when they appeared in public. In the 
ninth and tenth centuries, the greatest princes of Europe wore 
wooden shoes, or wooden soles fastened with leather thongs. 
In the eleventh century, the upper part of the shoe was made 
of leather, and the sole of wood. 

The Saxons wore shoes, or scoh, with thongs. Bede's account 
of Cuthbert is curious. He says : " When the saint had washed 
the feet of those who came to him, they compelled him to take 
off his own shoes, that his feet might also be made clean ; for 
so little did he attend to his bodily appearance, that he often 
kept his shoes, which were of leather, on his feet for several 
months together." (Bede, Vit. Cuthbert, p. 243.) [In an old 
Saxon Dialogue a shoemaker says he makes " swyfflers, sceos, 
and leather hose."] 

In the Dialogues of Elfric, composed to instruct the Anglo 
Saxon youth in Latin, we find that the shoemaker had a very 
comprehensive trade. " My craft is very useful and necessary 
to you. I buy hides and skins, and prepare them by my art, 
and make of them shoes of various kinds, and none of you can 
winter without my craft." Among the articles which he fabri- 
cates, he mentions — ancle leathers, shoes, leather hose, bridle 
hhongs, trappings leather bottles, flasks, halters, pouches and 
wallets. (Turner's Hist. Anglo Saxons, 3, 111.) 

In the year 1090, in the reign of William Rufus, the great 
dandy Robert was called the Jiorned, because he wore shoes 
with long points, stuffed, turned up, and twisted like horns. 
These kind of shoes became fashionable, and the toes continued 



88 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

to increase in extent, until, in the time of Richard II., in 1390, 
they had attained such an enormous extent as to be fastened to 
the garter by a chain of silver or gold. The clergy declaimed 
vehemently against this extravagance ; but the fashion contin- 
ued, even for several centuries. In the year 1463, the Parlia- 
ment of England passed an act prohibiting shoes with pikes 
more than two inches in length, under penalties to maker and 
wearer ; and those who would not comply were declared excom- 
municate. Even at a late period shoes were twice the length 
of the foot, or so long as " to prevent kneeling in devotion at 
God's house." In the year 1555, a company of Cordwainers was 
incorporated in old Boston, England. By their charter, it was 
ordered, " That no person shall set up, within the said borough, 
as Cordwainers, until such time as they can sufficiently cut and 
make a boot or shoe, to be adjudged by the wardens . . . that 
if any foreigner, or person who did not serve his apprenticeship 
in the said borough, shall be admitted to his freedom, he shall 
then pay to the wardens £3 2s. Sd. . . . and that no fellow of 
this corporation, his journeyman or servant, shall work on the 
Sabbath day, either in town or country." (Thompson's Hist. 
Boston, Eng., p. 82.) 

Shoes in their present form came into use in the year 1633, a 
short time after the first settlement of this country. The first 
shoemakers known at Lynn, were Philip Kertland and Edmund 
Bridges, both of whom came over in 1635. [For facts concern- 
ing them see under that date.] The business gradually increas- 
ed with the increase of inhabitants ; and many of the farmers, 
who worked in the fields in the summer, made shoes in their 
shops in the winter. The papers relating to the Corporation 
of Shoemakers, mentioned by Johnson, in 1651, are unfortu- 
nately lost ; having probably been destroyed by the mob in 1765. 
As the first settlers introduced many of their customs from 
England, the privileges were probably similar to those conferred, 
in 1555, on the Cordwainers of old Boston. 

The term Cordwainer, as a designation of this craft, has long 
usurped the place of Ladies' Shoemaker. This word had its 
origin from Cordova, a city in the south of Spain, where a pecu- 
liar kind of leather was manufactured for ladies' shoes. The 
word in the Spanish is Cordoban j in the Portuguese, Cordovan ; 



SHOES AND SHOEMAKmC. 89 

and in the French, Cordonau ; wlience the term Cordouaniers, 
or Cordwainers. [Cordwinder, by the way, is the shape in 
which the term appears in the first Colony Charter. The Cor- 
dovan leather was tanned and dressed goat skin. Members of 
the craft are sometimes called Sons of Crispin. And this arose 
from the honor done the calling by that worthy. Several of 
the societies of shoemakers, in France and England, early adopt- 
ed good Crispin as their patron.] In the eighth century, the 
descendants of Alaric, in revenge at being passed by in the 
choice of a king, called the Arabians to their aid. They came, 
and Roderic, the last of the Goths, fell in the seven days' battle, 
at Tarik, in 711. In 756, Abderrhaman made himself master 
of Spain, and established his caliphate at Cordova. During the 
Arabian power, agriculture, commerce, the arts and sciences, 
flourished in Spain ; and in that period, the celebrated Cordova 
leather was introduced. It was similar to what is now known 
as morocco, and was altogether superior to any thing which had 
been previously used for the manufacture of ladies' shoes. It 
was at first colored black, and afterward red, by the use of 
cochineal. 

[The names of the first two shoemakers in the Massachusetts 
colony appear in the following extract from the Second General 
Letter of the Governor and Deputy of the New England Com- 
pany, dated London, 28 May, 1629, which may be found in the 
Col. Recs. vol. I, pp. 404, 405. And the extract may prove addi- 
tionally interesting, as explaining, to some extent, the condition 
and position of that class of craftsmen. But would not one 
of our extensive manufacturers now think that the time when 
" divers hydes, both for soles and vpp leathers," with two men 
to work them " vpp in bootcs and shoes," were suflScient for 
the country, was a day of rather small things ? 

Thomas Beard, a shoomaker, and Isack Rickman, being both recomended 
to vs by M"" Symon Whetcombe to i-eceive then* dyett & houseroome at the 
charge of the Companie, wee haue agreed tliey shalbe w*'^ yo'^, the Gouno"", 
or phiced elsewhere, as yo^ shall thinke good, and receive from yo"', or by yo^ 
appointmt, their dyett & lodging, for w'"'' they are to pay, each of them, after 
the rate of 10£ p ann. And wee desire to receive a certificate, vnder the hand 
of whomsoever tliey shalbe soe dyetted & lodged w'*^, how long tjTiie they 
haue remained w* them, in case they shall otherwise dispose of themselues 
before the yeare bee expired, or at least wise at the end of each yeare, to the 



90 mSTOBY OP LYNN. 

end wee may heere receive paym* according to the s"* agreem*. The said Tho : 
Beard hath m the shipp the May Flower divers hydes, both for soles and vpp 
leathers, w^^ hee intends to make vpp in bootes and shoes there in the coun- 
try. Wee pray yo'^ let Mr Peuxe, the m' of the said shipp, viewe the said 
leather, & estimate what tonnage the sanie may import, that soe the said 
Beard may ether pay vnto yo'' there after the rate of 4£ p tonn for fraiglit of 
the same, the like for Iiis dyett if thei-e bee occasion to vse any of his comodi- 
ties, or otherwise, vpon yo"" advice, wee may i-eceive it of M^ VVhetcombe, who 
hath promised to see the same discharged. Wee desire also the said Tho : 
Beard may haue 50 acres of land allotted to him as one that transports him- 
selfe at his owne charge. But as well for him as all others that shall haue 
land allotted to them in that kinde, and are noe adventurers in the comon 
stock, w*''' is to support the charge of ffoityficacons, as also for the ministrie 
& divers other affaires, wee holde it fitt that these kmde of men, as also such 
as shall come to mheritt lands by their service, should, by way of acknowl- 
edgm* to such from whom they receive these lands, become lyable to the 
pformance of some sei-vice certaine dayes in the yeare, and by that sei-vice 
they and their posteritie after them to hold and inherite these lands, w"^ wilbe 
a good meanes to enjoy their lands from being held in capite, and to suppoit 
the plantacon in genall and peticuler. 

[This extract also gives a glimpse of the nature of the tenure 
by which it was desired that the class to which Mr. Beard 
belonged, should hold their lauds. There was nothing very 
democratic in it. Of Isaac Rickman, the other shoemaker who 
came over in the jfleet, nothing seems to be known. He proba- 
bly returned in a short time. Mr. Beard was made a freeman, 
10 May, 1643, and soon after purchased an estate at Strawberry 
Bank, now Portsmouth, where he probably settled.] 

At the beginning, women's shoes at Lynn, were made of 
neat's leather, or woolen cloth ; only they had a nicer pair, of 
white silk, for the wedding day, which were carefully preserved, 
as something too delicate for ordinary use. About the year 
1670, shoes began to be cut with broad straps, for buckles which 
were worn by women as well as by men. In 1727, square-toed 
shoes, and buckles for ladies, went out of fashion; though 
buckles continued to be worn by men till after the revolution. 
The sole-leather was all worked with the flesh side out. In 
1750, John Adam Dagyr, a Welchman, gave great impulse and 
notoriety to the business, by producing shoes equal to the best 
made in England. From that time the craft continued to flour- 
ish, until it became the principal business of the town. Fathers, 
sons, journeymen, and apprentices, worked together, in a shop 



SHOES AND SHOEMAKING. 91 

of one story in height, twelve feet square, with a fire-place in 
one corner, and a cutting-board in another. The finer quality 
of shoes were made with white and russet rands, stitched very 
fine, with white waxed thread. They were made with very 
sharp toes, and had wooden heels, covered with leather, from 
half an inch to two inches in height ; called cross-cut, common, 
court, and Wurtemburgh heels. About the year 1800, wooden 
heels were discontinued, and leather heels were used instead. 
[The manufacture of wooden heels was as much a separate 
business as last making now is. One of the principal factories 
at which they were turned out was on Boston street. I think 
they did not go out of use quite so early as would be supposed 
from the date Mr. Lewis gives.] In 1783, Mr. Ebenezer Breed 
introduced the use of morocco leather; and at the commence- 
ment of the present century, two of the principal shoe manufac- 
turers, Avere Mr. Amos Rhodes and Col. Samuel Brimblecom. 
Many shoemakers have become eminent. Nilant has a book 
on shoes. Hans Sack wrote fifty volumes of prose. Bloom- 
field composed that delightful poem, the Farmer's Boy, while at 
work on his bench, and wrote it down when he had finished the 
labor of the day. William Gifford, the editor of the London 
Quarterly Review, and the translator of Juvenal, served his 
apprenticeship with a cordwainer. John Pounds, of Portsmouth, 
while engaged in his daily work, contrived to educate some 
hundreds of the neighboring children. [Linnseus, the great 
botanical classifier, was apprenticed to a shoemaker. And so 
was David Parens, the elder, celebrated as professor of theology 
at Heidelburgh. Benedict Baudouin, one of the most learned 
men of century 1500, was a shoemaker. And so was Holcraft, 
author of The Critic] In our own country, Roger Sherman, one 
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a shoe- 
maker; and John G. Whittier left the manufacture of shoes for 
ladies' feet, to make verses for their boudoirs. [But it would, 
perhaps, be quite as profitable to cast an observing eye upon 
those born in our own community, who have risen from the 
shoemaker's seat to positions conspicuous and honorable. Lynn 
can present numerous examples most worthy of imitation. It 
is, however, important to distinguish between those whose 
claims rest on mere wealth, which is frequently attained by the 



92 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

most ignorant and undeserving, and those who possess that 
which is really ennobling — between those whose minds expand 
not beyond the circumference of a dollar and those who, by 
God's grace, are more richly endowed.] 

Poets, in all ages, have noticed the shoe as an important part 
of the dress, especially of a lady. Shakspeare bestows an ex- 
quisite compliment on the dressing of the foot, when he says — 

" Nay — hei' foot speaks." 
Butler, in his Hudibras, makes the hero of that inimitable poem 
pay his devours to his lady-love, in the following terms — 

" Madam ! I do, as is my duty, 
Honor the shadow of your shoe-tie ! " 

A certain critic, of more learning than good sense, once under- 
took to bestow an unusual quantity of censure on two of our 
own lines, in the description of a lady's person — 

" But if one grace might more attention suit, 
It was the striking neatness of her foot." 

Now we think that every reader of good taste will agree with 
us, at least in admiring the idea which these lines are intended 
to convey. 

Genteel Reader — for I trust I shall have many such — are 
you aware that you are now perhaps trampling the industry of 
Lynn beneath your feet ! How often are we indebted to those 
of whom we think least, for many of our most valuable and 
salutary enjoyments. Look at that young lady, who might be 
taken by Brackett as a model for one of the graces, reclining in 
an easy-chair, with her foot upon an ottoman. See the delicate 
shoe which fits as if it were formed by the hand of Apelles ! 
Shakspeare, in his Romeo and Juliet, says — "I would I were a 
glove upon that hand !" How often have I wished — " 0, would 
. I were a shoe upon that foot!" Perhaps neither she who dis- 
plays that elegant foot, nor the many who admire it, think 
that much of its grace is to be ascribed to some unknown indi- 
vidual on the shores of Lynn. Yet there, by the sound of the 
rippling waters, are thousands of men employed in manufactur- 
ing all manner of outer vestures for the delicate foot, and as 
many women engaged in binding and trimming them. There 
the belle of the city may suit both her form and taste with the 
newest and most delicately formed style, either for the boudoir 



iLNCIENT FERKY — ROADS — IRON WORKS. 93 

or ball-room, with its classic shape and its Parisian title — there 
the rustic maid may procure the laced buskin which shall add 
a new grace to her modest beauty — and there the mother may 
find the substantial fabric, adapted to domestic comfort for her 
own foot; or the soft tissue, with its congenial trimming of 
gossamer and gold, for the foot of her loved little one. So long 
as the foot needs to be protected, so long will the manufactures 
of Lynn continue to flourish. 

ANCIENT FERRY — ROADS — IRON WORKS. • 

[Conveniences for travel are matters of the first importance 
in all new settlements. And of course our fathers soon directed 
their attention to the securing of means for communication be- 
tween different parts of their own wide-spread plantation and 
with the adjacent settlements. 

[At times, vigorous discussions have taken place as to the 
particular course of the early routes from Lynn to Boston. It 
should be remembered that water communication was much 
favored by the early settlers, for land journeys over the primi- 
tive roads, in such a rough country, were excessively fatiguing, 
and to an extent dangerous. And besides the obstacles of rock, 
stump, and quagmire, there long existed an apprehension that 
ravenous beasts and serpents would dispute the way. An ac- 
credited tradition is mentioned in Felt's Annals, to the effect 
that certain persons from Salem visited Boston soon after its 
settlement and were four days on the road. On the next Sun- 
day after their return they had a note of thanks, for their safe 
dehverance from the perils and hardships of the journey, read 
at the meeting-house. For the crossing of creeks and rivers, 
and for inconsiderable coast voyaging, the Indian canoes were 
sufficient; and attention was early called to the construction of 
shallops suitable for more extended navigation. It is very 
hkely that passengers were taken to Boston from a point in the 
vicinity of Sagamore Hill, as well as from points as far west as 
Saugus river. In good weather the passage was pleasant, and 
with a fair wind by no means tedious. But a land route must 
have been very soon established, for the water communication 
was liable to be interrupted by ice in winter, and rendered haz- 
ardous and subject to delays by storms and adverse winds, more 



94 mSTORT OF LYNN. 

or less, at all times. In 1639 the Greneral Court granted to Gar- 
ret Spencer " the fferry at Linn, for 2 yeares." And this was no 
doubt a ferry established between Needham's Landing, just be- 
low Chase's mill, in Lynn, and Ballard's Landing, in East Saugus, 
and was a very great convenience for passengers to and from 
Boston. 

[It is not easy to determine exactly the direction which the 
first road took. And it is highly probable that before the bridge 
over Saugus river was built, two or three routes from settled 
parts of the town, to fording places, existed ; nor is it improba- 
ble that these were struck out almost simultaneously. 

[I am satisfied, from examination, that one of the most ancient 
of these routes was along the foot of the hills, north of Boston 
street. From the northern termination of Federal street it fol- 
lowed Walnut to the bend where Holyoke joins. Thence it 
proceeded, by Holyoke street, along the margin of what was 
formerly called Pan Swamp, a comparatively waste territory, 
though making some pretension to the dignity of a cranberry 
meadow ; but which has been reclaimed and now forms the 
beautiful interval lying on the north of the street last named. 
It followed the upland curve, crossed the busy little stream 
called Beaver Brook, and, passing perhaps a furlong west of 
the late farm residence of Rev. C. C. Shackford, came out at the 
point where the road leading to the Saugus woolen factories 
diverges from the old highway between Lynn and Lynnfield. 
There this ancient way, without following either of the present 
roads, kept on to a fording place considerably above the roman- 
tic site which was subsequently occupied by the Iron Works, 
so famous in early colonial history. And from the fording place, 
it probably swept off for Boston through the vicinage of Maiden 
and Medford. Into this road, undoubtedly, at different points, 
other roads from the scattered neighborhoods of Lynn entered. 
In support of the belief that an ancient and important way pur- 
sued the direction here indicated, it may be mentioned that 
some of the first and most prominent settlers are found to have 
located along the course. Richard Sadler, one of the very early 
comers, and who was the first Clerk of the Writs — an ofiicial 
with duties somewhat analogous to those of Town Clerk — lived 
just at the junction of Walnut and Holyoke streets — the lofty 



ANCIENT FERRY — ROADS — IRON WORKS. 95 

cliff knoAvii as Sadler's Rock deriving its name from him. Nich- 
olas Brown, Samuel Bennett, and Adam Hawkes, who were also 
among the early planters, pitched their tents considerably to 
the northwest of Mr. Sadler. And it is quite certain that in' the 
territory above the Iron Works there were settlers while the 
town was in its very infancy. The renowned Thomas Dexter 
sat himself down there ; and the very first deed on our county 
records is one given by him, in 1639. And furthermore, on a 
pleasant afternoon during the last autumn, I took an opportunity 
to examine almost the whole of the route from Holyoke street 
to the river, and was surprised at the clear evidences of an an- 
cient settled way. Remains of the old wall are clearly distin- 
guishable, on either hand, for considerable distances, and here 
and there appear sites that bear unmistakable marks of ancient 
occupancy. It is perfectly plain that it was not a mere cart- 
way, laid out for the convenience' of drawing wood. And 
observation indicates that there may have been a branch di- 
verging from this road, at about the point where Myrtle street 
intersects Holyoke, running along under the hills, by Oak street, 
and joining again, perhaps half a mile northwest of the old Dun- 
geon Gate, which was near Henry B. Newhall's farm house ; or, 
possibly, continuing on to another fording place. 

[But there may have been another route to Boston, as early. 
The present Boston street was a traveled way soon after the 
settlement commenced. When the traveler struck the river by 
this route, which he must have done at a point just about where 
the street now strikes it, if no means were at hand by which he 
could cross, he pursued his way up, on the eastern side, the 
road running along the most level upland near the river. At 
a fording place he crossed, and proceeded on toward Boston, 
either by coming down on the west side to a point nearly op- 
posite where he turned up, thus making a detour of perhaps 
three miles, and then following a road along the margin of the 
salt marshes ; or, by taking a broader and more westerly sweep 
from the fording place. 

[In October, 1631, Governor Winthrop, accompanied by sev- 
eral ofScial dignitaries, left Boston, and traveled " on foot to 
Saugus, and the next day to Salem, where they were boun- 
tifully entertained by Captain Endicott." And the day after 



96 



HISTOEY OF LTNN. 



" they returned to Boston by the ford at Saugua river and so 
over at Mistick." 

[It will be observed in regard to these routes, that they are 
sup{)osed to have been traveled before the establishment of the 
Iron Works, which went into operation in 1643. And the 
bridge at the Boston street crossing was built about four years 
before. After the bridge was completed, travelers, of course, 
nearly abandoned the fording places. It is well, also, to bear 
in mind that the travel, in those days, was quite limited. At- 
tendance on the General Court was one of the chief necessities 
that called men to the metropolis. While the Iron Works were 
in operation, which appears to have been, to some extent, till 
1683, the road just spoken of as running up the east side of the 
river, from Boston street, was undoubtedly much used. The 
manufactured articles, however, were, in all probability, trans- 
ported chiefly by water ; for whoever takes notice of the posi- 
tion in which the Works stood, will at once conclude that 
convenience for loading the little vessels was a promuient 
object. 

[So much is said elsewhere in this volume concerning these 
Iron Works that little should be said here. It is certain that Mr. 
Lewis felt a very great interest in their history. And, indeed, 
the public records show that the colonial authorities deemed 
their establishment a matter of great importance. On the after- 
noon spoken of, after carefully traversing the route up from 
Boston street, through the still wild and beautifully diversified 
region, where one is forced at almost every step to linger and 
admire, I came to a halt in the romantic vale where the old 
Works were seated. Borrowing a pickaxe from one at work 
in the neighborhood I lustily applied it to one of the mounds 
of scoria, or cinder banks, as they are called. The labor, and 
object, to be sure, were humble in comparison with those of 
Layard at Nineveh, but a fact of no little interest was verified. 
Sufficient mould has accumulated, during these two centuries, 
to sustain a respectable garniture of grass ; but even the casual 
passer would hardly mistake them for natural hillocks. It is 
really remarkable that in a neighborhood which has been well 
populated for generations, so many tons of these relics should 
remain heaped up, just as the sooty workmen left them two 



ANCIENT FERRY — ROADS — IRON WORKS. 97 

hundred years ago. Certainly scores, and probably hundreds, 
of tons, of those which remained nearest the river, were, how- 
ever, removed many years since. They were boated down and 
sunk at the dam at the Boston steet crossing. It was imagined 
that they would form the best material for preventing the pas- 
sage of eels, which are troublesome sappers ; but they did not 
prove to be of much value. Still, as they can easily be removed 
it may not be long before some other use is found for them. 
The unsentimental hand of improvement or speculation may be 
suddenly extended, and in a day scatter them, so that a few 
years hence the mining river or delving ploughshare will be 
looked to for the recovery of specimens wherewith to enrich 
the cabinets of the curious. Whether the Iron Works were, on 
the whole, successful, it is not easy to determine ,* in some 
respects, they undoubtedly were. A prejudice early arose 
against them, founded on the singular apprehension that their 
great consumption of wood might ultimately produce a scarcity 
of fuel. This will hardly be belived ; yet it was so. The under- 
takers found themselves, from various causes, involved in pro- 
tracted lawsuits, and a good portion of their profits vanished 
in the corrosive atmosphere of the courts. Law is expensive 
as a luxury. And those who freely indulge in it may consider 
themselves on the high road to ruin. Yet, as a remedial agent, 
it is occasionally useful if not necessary. 

[These ancient v/orks must have presented a highly pictur- 
esque appearance, seated down there between the densely wood- 
ed hills, the smoke curling up among the trees, and at night the 
red glare of the furnace fires streaming over the dark river, 
lighting up the thickets beyond, and perhaps revealing the 
dusky form of some skulking Indian or prowling beast; to 
say nothing of the roving devils which the lively imaginations 
of our good fathers discovered in every quarter where there 
were pious men and women to affright and harrass. But the 
Iron Works were destined before many years to have their 
final account closed — the clink of the hammer ceased, the fire 
of the forge went out, and the begrimmed workmen departed. 

[It may be mentioned that there are traditions confirming the 
existence of the old roads here spoken of. A worthy yeoman 
who lives on the eastern border of Saugus, with considerable 
I 7 



98 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

assurance informed me that the ancient mail route lay through 
the strip of woods running north from Boston street and imme- 
diately on the east of Saugus river. He learned this from family 
tradition. And it is through these woods, it will be observed, 
that the old roads are supposed to have run, with the exception 
of the branch by Oak street. It is by no means unlikely that 
while the Iron Works were in operation, there was considerable 
correspondence carried on with Boston and Salem ; and it is not 
at all improbable that a post-rider may have pursued that route, 
I delivering letters and retailing news by the way ; for it will be 
remembered that there were no newspapers in America at that 
time. And when some great historical romancer shall arise, we 
shall see those ancient post-riders conspicuously figuring. 

[The ferry from Needham's Landing, in Lynn, to Ballard's 
Landing, in Saugus, has been already mentioned. It must have 
been a great accommodation, to several neighborhoods, even 
after the bridge was built. But it does not appear to have been 
long kept in operation. 

[Perhaps a word should be said regarding the routes eastward. 
These are not now so easily traced, for reasons that will suggest 
themselves to the reader. The first, appears to have followed 
along the foot of the hills, northeasterly, from the end of Fed- 
eral street, being, in fact, a continuation of that first described as 
running through Walnut and Holyoke streets. From this, at a 
later period, a branch ran through the Mineral Spring grounds, 
and after pursuing a devious course probably joined another 
road that came in from Salem and Marblehead, through Swamps- 
cot and Woodend. By the record book of Salem grants, it 
appears that that town granted " to Leiftenant davenport about 
2 acres of Land lying on the west side of Butt brook, not farr 
from the place where the way goeth over to Lyn." This was 
in 1638. And Butt Brook took its name from a family of the 
name of Butt who lived near it. It is now called Tapley's 
Brook. 

[It would he interesting to say something of the highways 
as they appeared in succeeding years. But perhaps sufficient 
will appear in the following pages. Our roads, at the present 
time, are quite famous for their excellence, being broad, level, 
and hard. And should one of the old settlers be permitted to 



ANCIENT FERRY — ROADS — IRON WORKS. 99 

arise and perambulate them, how would he be astonished at 
their perfection and at the elegance of the edifices that adorn 
them. But more than all would he be astonished at the variety 
and style of the vehicles by which they are traversed, and the 
multitudes of the merry sons and daughters of his sedate con- 
temporaries who in strange and extravagant apparel throng 
them. It would be interesting, too, to trace the progress of im- 
provement in the modes of travel, were there not so ma;^'' other 
matters of seemingly more importance pressing forward for no- 
tice. Going back to the time when wheeled carriages were 
hardly known here for purposes of mere travel, we might see 
the old gentleman sally forth upon the back of plodding dobbin, 
with the good dame seated upon her pillion behind him. And 
years after, when population had increased sufficiently to induce 
public-spirited individuals to establish conveyances for the con- 
venience of the public and their own profit, might be seen 
awkward and rickety vehicles lumbering along, at protracted 
and uncertain intervals, and at a pace, extraordinarily rapid for 
the time, perhaps, but yet such as would lead the ambitious 
pedestrian of our day to decline their services, if he were in 
haste. Still further on appears the jolly stage-coach, which, for 
so many years, held its supremacy — at first an unseemly and 
uncomfortable affair, literally a "slow coach" — and then, light, 
tasty and as rapidly moving as emulous horses and aspiring 
Jehus could make it. What a bright spot will the stage-coach 
occupy in history — what a bright spot does it already occupy 
ia poetry and romance. But the rail-road came, and Avith a 
triumphant whistle drove it from the track. A day of reckoning, 
however, may be in store for that arrogant intruder. Its gilded 
sides and velvet cushions, its sleeping and its smoking cars, 
may not be competent to save it from a mortifying end through 
the agency of some yet uninvented traveling machine — some 
wonderful ofi"spring of art and science, that will exultingl}' send 
it screaming away to that oblivious depot whither are dis- 
patched all the used-up things of earth. 

[Hardly any thing has a more direct and material effect on 
the prosperity of a place than the public ways. And we often 
see how suddenly and essentially the laying out of a new way 
affects a particular neighborhood. All sections of Lynn had a 



100 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

sprinkling of inhabitants at an early period. But for more than 
a hundred and fifty years, or till the opening of the turnpike 
between Boston and Salem, in 1803, Boston street remained the 
great thoroughfare. Here was the principal public house, and 
the post-office ; here resided most of the leading citizens, and 
here the chief business was done. But when the turnpike was 
completed, the scene changed, and population and business 
began to concentrate at other points. The post-office was re- 
moved to the southern end of Federal street, and the Common 
and eastern sections were favorably affected. And the present 
generation very well remember how materially the construction 
of the steam rail-road, in 1838, operated in building up some 
neighborhoods and damaging the prosperity of others — how 
rapidly, for instance, it made the old stone walls in the vicinity 
of Central Square disappear and cow pastures and gardens come 
in requisition for building lots. It is fit to allude to these mat- 
ters in this connection, though in view of what will hereafter 
be said, no extended remarks are required. Almost the whole 
history of a place is involved in a history of its public ways.] 



PECULIAE CUSTOMS AND DOINGS IN RELIGIOUS MATTERS. 

Among the early settlers of Lynn were some persons of high 
reputation, and most of them appear to have been men of good 
character, and of comfortable property. There is no evidence 
that any of them had abandoned the Church, or been persecuted 
for their opinions, with the exception of the Rev. Stephen Bach- 
iler, and the few persons in his connection. Governor Winthrop, 
who came over with them, begins his journal on '' Easter Mon- 
day," which Mr. Savage says was " duly honored ; " and it is 
not until nearly five years after, that we catch a glimpse of his 
Puritanism, when he begins to date on the " eleventh month." 

The great body of the first settlers of Massachusetts were 
members of the Church of England. After they had gone 
aboard the ships, they addressed a letter " To the rest of their 
brethren in and of the Church of England," in which they say : 
" We desire you would be pleased to take notice of the princi- 
pals and body of our Company, as those who esteem it our honor 
to call the Church of England, from whence we rise, our dear 
Mother : and cannot denart from our native country where she 



PECULIAR CUSTOMS AND DOINGS IN EELIGIOUS MATTERS. 101 

specially resideth, without much sadness of heart, and many- 
tears in our eyes ; ever acknowledging that such hope and part 
as we have obtained in the common salvation, we have received 
it from her bosom." Prince, who stands in the first rank of our 
historians, says : " They had been chiefly born and brought up 
in the national Church, and had, until their separation, lived in 
communion with her ; their ministers had been ordained by her 
bishops, and had officiate.d in her parish churches, and had made 
no secession from her until they left their native land." The 
author of the Planter's Plea, printed in 1630, says: "It may be 
with good assurance maintained, that at least three parts out 
of four, of the men there planted, are able to justify themselves 
to have lived in a constant course of conformity unto our Church 
government." Morton, in his Memorial says, when the minis- 
ters were accused, " They answered for themselves ; they were 
neither separatists nor anabaptists ; they did not separate from 
the Church of England, nor from the ordinances of Go*d there ; 
and the generality of the people did well approve of the minis- 
ters' answer." Backus, who had no partiality for the Church, 
but who could, nevertheless, speak the truth, says : " The gov- 
ernor and company of the Massachusetts colony held communion 
with the national church, and reflected on their brethren who 
separated from her." Mr. Hubbard, who was well acquainted 
with many of them, says : " They always walked in a distinct 
path from the rigid separatists, nor did they ever disown the 
Church of England to be a true church." The Puritans of Ply- 
mouth colony, were the " rigid separatists," and they continued 
a separate government until the year 1692. Some historians 
have confounded these facts, and thus misled their readers. 

[Had Mr. Lewis thoroughly examined and maturely consid- 
ered this subject, I am sure he V\'ould not have left the foregoing 
just as it is ; for without explanation it is likely to lead the 
mind of the reader who is not acquainted with the ecclesiastical 
history of the times in some of its minuter details, to an errone- 
ous conclusion. Does it not appear as if he would have it un- 
derstood that the settlers, generally, were Episcopalians, or 
Churchmen, in the sense now given to those terms? And that 
being so, would it be impertinent to ask how it happened that 
they made no attempt to establish a churchly mode of worship 
I* 



102 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

here, but immediately set about forming Congregational socie- 
ties on the broadest principles of Independency — how it hap- 
pened that they rejected the liturgy of the Church and prohib- 
ited by law some of her cherished observances ? They gloried 
in the name of Puritan as distinguishing from Churchman. 
They levied taxes for the support of Congregational worship. 
They enacted a law forbidding that any one not in regular 
standing with some Congregational cliurch should be entitled 
to vote or even be permitted to take the freeman's oath. They 
re-ordaiued, according the Congregational form, some who had 
received Episcopal ordination at home, and persecuted the few 
ministers of the Church who from time to time appeared Ctmong 
them and refused to recant their Episcopal vows. It is true, 
that in the outset there was a marked difference between the 
Plymouth and Massachusetts settlers. But that difference had 
been obliterated long before the political union of 1692. And 
an accomplished historian, says that " wherever the Independ- 
ents possessed power, as in New England, they showed them- 
selves to be as intolerant as any of their opponents." If all the 
inhabitants of Lynn, excepting Mr. Bachiler and his six adherents, 
were Episcopalians, how happened it that they at once zeal- 
ously lent him their aid in forming the church here? Good 
Churchmen would as soon have thought of fraternizing with 
Hugh Peters as Mr. Bachiler. His ardent temperament and 
remembered wrongs led him to manifest such envenomed oppo- 
sition to the Chi]^'ch that it is not clearly seen how her devout 
children could have been attracted to his fold. 

[But our difficulties will very much lessen if we bear in mind 
the fact that there for some time existed in the Church itself a 
considerable Puritan element — that Episcopacy, even, for a time 
was not made a test — that some high ecclesiastics were in- 
clined to a Presbyter}', and others to Independency or Congre- 
gationalism. Nor was it till the vigorous arm of Laud interposed 
that the integrity of the Church Avas restored. At the time the 
Massachusetts emigration commenced there were many decided 
Puritans in the Church, some of the more sanguine of whom 
had probably once hoped to Puritanize her, and who were yet 
fond of calling her their " dear mother." They had not been op- 
pressed, and had no ground for complaint. Many of these came 



PECULIAR CUSTOMS AND DOINGS IN RELIGIOUS MATTERS. 103 

over with the " rigid separatists." And were it not in accord- 
ance with the recognized tendency of the human mind to pro- 
ceed to extremes when it recedes from an established order, we 
might well be astonished at the apparent delight some of them 
took, when safely here, in heaping indignities upon the very 
name of their " dear mother." It will be instructive to those 
who have never given this subject much attention, to present 
an illustration or two of their seeming disposition to proceed 
as far as they decently could in raising and fostering prejudices 
against the Church. 

[The Church had always observed Christmas as the most note- 
worthy festival of the year — it was the anniversary of the natal 
day of the great founder of our faith — the anniversary of an 
event which the very angels of heaven came down to celebrate — 
those sinless spirits whose majestic anthem rang over the starlit 
plains of Judea, and being taken up by the Church had been 
continued on through all the centuries. But her " children " 
here in these western wilds thought fit to turn their backs upon 
her holy example. They went to the extent of forbidding, by 
law, the observance of Christmas. Whoever abstained from his 
ordinary labor on that day, subjected himself to the liability of 
being punished for a misdemeanor. 

[The Church regarded matrimony as a religious rite. They 
did not elevate it to the position of a sacrament but invested it 
with a peculiar sanctity. But in Massachusetts, from an early 
date, ministers were not allowed to perform the wedding cere- 
mony. Magistrates and special appointees alone could discharge 
the agreeable duty. It was not till 1686 that the present cus- 
tom of authorizing ministers to solemnize marriages became 
established. Reducing it to the incidents of a mere civil con- 
tract was no doubt the occasion of divers evils. And it is not 
remarkable that the effect was so long felt that even in 1719 the 
Boston ministers testified that weddings were times of " riotous 
irregularities." 

[The prayers for the dead and the whole burial service of the 
Church were solemn and affecting. But our good fathers would 
not have even prayers at funerals. The first time that such a 
thing occurred in the colony, appears to have been in August, 
1685. and the funeral was that of Rev. Mr. Adams of Roxbury. 



104 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

And the distasteful custom was of very slow growth. I have, 
indeed, seen it somewhere stated that a prayer was never made 
at a funeral in Boston, before 1766 ; meaning, of course, among 
such as adhered to puritanical principles. It could not, how- 
ever, have been exactly so, for a Boston newspaper, printed in 
1730, speaking of the funeral of Mrs. Sarah Byfield says, " Be- 
fore carrying out the corpse, a funeral prayer was made by one 
of the pastors of the Old Church, which, though a custom in the 
country towns, is a singular instance in this place, but it is 
wished may prove a leading example to the general practice 
of so Christian and decent a custom." There was a law passed 
in 1727 forbidding funerals on Sundays, excepting in extraordi- 
nary cases, or by special leave. These things show how little 
sanctity our Puritan fathers attached to the burial of the dead. 
And, following upon this, it is found that, especially during 
the first half of the last century, there was often great parade 
made at funerals, particularly those of the rich. Gloves, gold 
rings, hat-bands, and mourning scarfs, were frequently presented 
to those in attendance. Near friends acted as bearers, carrying 
the body on a bier on the shoulders, there being relays as occa- 
Bion required. In the procession males and females did not 
walk together, but those of the sex of the deceased Avalked 
nearest the remains. Officers with staffs and mourning badges 
accompanied the procession. On the return from the grave, a 
liberal entertainment was served, at which wines and intoxi- 
cating liquors, pipes and tobacco were freely provided. And 
too often the drinking led to shameful rioting. Could they 
have been guilty of such proceedings had they first engaged in 
the solemn services appointed by the Church for such affecting 
occasions? Lecbford, writing in 1641, says: "At burials, no- 
thing is read, nor any funeral sermon made, but all the neigh- 
borhood, or a good company of them, come together by tolling 
of the bell, and carry the dead solemnly to his grave and there 
stand by him while he is buried. The ministers are most com- 
monly present." This was written before the more extravagant 
customs began to prevail. But a most remarkable thing about 
it is how; those good old divines who, if they had a passion it 
was for delivering sermons, could have lot such golden oppor. 
tunities pass unimproved. 



PECULIAR CUSTOMS AND DOINGS IN RELIGIOUS MATTERS. 105 

[And this leads to a remark or two concerning public worship. 
The Church considered the sermon, that being merely the ex- 
pression of one man's views of religious truth and duty, as of 
minor importance — a mere appendage to the worship. The 
reading of the Scriptures, the prayers, the psalms, the anthems, 
the solemn litany, formed the important part of the services. 
At first, indeed, the sermons were not delivered during the 
hours of worship, but at different times, of which notice was 
given. And though it was censurable not to attend worship, 
absence at sermon-time was no ground for formal complaint — 
excepting, perhaps, in the mind of the preacher himself. But 
those docile children of that " dear mother," when they found 
themselves safe in this western Canaan just reversed matters. 
They made the sermon the leading feature at the sanctuary, 
which they preferred to call a meeting-house, rather than a 
church, and reduced the little semblance of worship they re- 
tained, to a mere appendage to the sermon. The Congrega- 
tional societies of the present day have widely departed, in 
almost every respect, from the usages of those of earlier time. 
But is it not true that, as a general rule, they still adhere to the 
old way of giving the sermon an undue prominence — of making 
their sanctuaries rather houses of preaching than houses of 
prayer or places of worship ? Without a liturgy, it is perhaps 
difBcult, if not impossible, to satisfactorily obviate this. It 
seems almost necessarily to follow from the Congregational 
mode — from all modes Avhere the extemporary element prevails 
and the worship cannot be responsive. A new order of things 
seems, however, to be slowly coming about. Some societies, 
feeling a pressing need, have recently instituted the vesper 
service, as it is called, and a few others have actually adopted 
liturgies. 

[It appears by a writer who will presently be quoted, that 
they did not always have even a prayer at their Sunday services. 
And the Bible was not read. Such a thing as the reading of the 
Bible in a New England Congregational meeting-house was hard- 
ly known before the first part of the last century, save in a few 
instances, where the ministers, having been bred in the Church, 
could not bring their minds at once to dispense with what 
they had been taught was a matter of the first importance. As 



106 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

early as 1G99, however, Rev. Mr. Colman, of Boston, read it in 
his church. And he even repeated the Lord's prayer, after an 
introductory one of his own. But many were strongly preju- 
diced against his innovations. The Ratio Disciplinse says that 
in 1726, the practice of reading the sacred volume had obtained 
in many churches without giving offence. It does not appear 
when the Scriptures began to be read in the church at Lynn. 
But the First Church of Salem adopted the custom in 1736. It 
was not, however, till many years after, that the other churches 
of that place followed her good example — the Tabernacle in 
1804: and the South Church in 1806. The neighboring church 
of Medford, in 1759, voted "to read the Scriptures in the con- 
gregation." Mr. Holmes thus remarks, 1720, in relation to the 
discontinuance of the reading of the Bible at public worship by 
the Puritan churches: '-Why this practice should be discontinued 
by any of the disciples of Jesus, I see no reason. I am persua- 
ded it cannot be alleged to be any part of our reformation from 
popish superstition." But what other reason had they to allege — 
excepting, perhaps, that their " dear mother" made almost con- 
tinuous use of the sacred Word in her services ? 

[The Church had always deemed it honorable to have her 
sanctuaries in as impressive and beautiful a style of architecture 
as circumstances would allow, and so appointed as to impart to 
the mind a due sense of the sanctity of God's house. This, 
besides showing a becoming respect for sacred things, was 
surely to be approved ; for the loftiest impressions are perhaps 
as often conveyed to the mind through the medium of the sight 
as any other sense. And the proprieties of the sacred precincts 
were carefully looked to. Kneeling was the required attitude 
in prayer. The music was that best adapted to inspire devo- 
tional feelings and accord with the passing season. The solemn 
measures of the Lenten days and the joyous Easter strains were 
calculated to lead the devout mind to contemplations the most 
fruitful of spiritual good. The ancient chants which, century 
after century, had formed a stirring portion of the serv-ice, 
swelled, in concert with the deep organ harmony, through the 
cathedral arches and in the humble church upon the village green. 
And the chimes from her gray towers called many a wandering 
thought from the cares and vexations of the world to rest and 



PECULIAR CUSTOMS AND DOINGS IN RELIGIOUS MATTERS. 107 

holy meditation. But with what eye did those severely matter- 
of-fact Puritan settlers view these things — things that their 
" dear mother " deemed important adjuncts in sustaining the 
religious character in her children? They would not recognize 
the forty Lenten days, but instituted, by civil appointment, an 
annual fast of a single day ; and Easter became an unknown 
season. The organ was to them an instrument of heathenish 
device, and chanting an old mummery. At prayer, instead of 
humbly kneeling, they stood ostentatiously erect. Their meet- 
ing-houses, even where means were abundant, were but rudo 
structures, often surmounted by some strange image, as if in 
mockery of the cross, that emblem with which the Church so 
loved to adorn her consecrated edifices. And they viewed with 
disdain attempts to reach the heart in other ways than by rea- 
soning unadorned. 

[There is a merry New England ballad in a collection pub- 
lished at London, in 1719, edited by T. D'Urfey, which contains 
a sort of running commentary on some of the Puritan customs, 
in matters such as we have been considering ; though the piece 
is thought by Dr. Harris to be much older than the date of its 
publication in that collection. It was evidently written by a 
good natured Churchman who viewed things with an understand-, 
ing eye ,* and we extract as follows : 

Well, tliat Night I slept till near Prayer time, 
Next 3IorDing I wonder'd to hear no Bells chime ; 
At which I did ask, and the Reason I found, 
'Twas because they had ne'er a Bell in the Town. 

At last being warned, to Church I repairs, 

Where I did think certain we should have some Pray're; 

But the parson there no such matter did teach, 

They scorn'd to Pray, for all one could Preach. 

The first thing they did, a Psalm they did Zing, 

Ise pluck'd out my Psalm-Book I with me did bring ; 

And tumbled to seek him 'cause they caw'd him by's name, 

But they'd got a new Zong to the Tune of the same. 

When Sermon was ended, was a child to baptise, 

'Bout Zixteen years old, as Volks did zurmise ; 

He had neither Godfather nor Godmother, yet was quiet and stiD, 

But the Priest durst not cross him, for fear of ill will. 



108 HISTOEY OF LYNN. 

Ah, Sin-all, thought I, and to Dinner Ise went, 
And gave the Lord Thanks for what lie had sent. 
Next day was a Wedding, the Brideman my Friend 
Did kindly invite me, so thither Ise wend. 

But tliis, above all, me to wonder did bring. 
To see Magistrate marry them, and had ne'er a Ring ; 
Ise thought they would call me the Woman to give, 
But 1 think the Man stole her, they ask'd no man leave. 

[But it must be highly gratifying to the Churchman of this 
day to observe how many of the old prejudices against his 
revered mother have disappeared. Who, now, even among the 
sons of the staunchest Puritan settlers is disposed to cast con- 
tempt upon her fervid outpourings at the joyous Christmas- 
tide ? Who is not ready to commend her efforts to keep the 
glad sound of the gospel constantly ringing in every ear? 
And who, even, is not ready to concede that she possesses a 
liturgy and order worthy of the warmest affections of the Chris- 
tian heart. 

[Notwithstanding the apparent belief of Mr. Lewis that the 
first settlers of Lynn, with the exception of about half a dozen, 
were devout Churchmen, it is yet true that the Church was of 
very slow growth here. No attempt was made to gather a 
congregation, till 1819. And the small number who then called 
themselves of the fold presently dispersed and joined other 
worshiping bodies. And how is it even now, when we have 
become a city of more than twenty thousand people? Why, 
we have one Church — St. Stephen's — numbering not above a 
hundred communicants, and a Chapel — St. Andrew's — which 
is open only in the warm season, for the accommodation of non- 
residents. If the great body of the settlers had been Episco- 
palians a different state of things might rationally have been 
expected. 

[Indeed, notwithstanding the professed reverence of those 
early comers for their " dear mother," the Episcopal Church 
was of slow growth in all parts of New England, the prejudices 
against her constantly exhibiting themselves. Rev. William 
Blaxton, an Episcopal clergyman, was the first Christian settler 
of Boston. He sat down there, solitary and alone, in 1625 or '6. 
He was a man of great learning, and seems to have been fond 



PECULIAR CUSTOMS AND DOINGS IN RELIGIOUS MATTERS. 109 

of retirement and study. In or about the year 1634 he removed 
to the vicinity of Providence, and died 26 May, 1675, having 
made no apparent impression in favor of his cherished faith, 
though he had the fame of having been bred at Emanuel, which 
was called the Puritan college. Moses Brown, in one of his 
manuscript letters, says : "Rev. Mr. Blackstone, an Episc''. sold 
the land of Boston, in 1631, and removed to Blaxton River and 
settled six miles north of Providence and Rehoboth. He had a 
great library, was a great student. There is a hill now called 
Study Hill, on which he loved to walk for contemplation. JEe 
rode his bull, for want of a horse, to Boston and Providence, to 
Smith's in Narrag*. He sometimes came to Providence and 
preached there ; the first time to one man, two women, and a 
number of children whom he invited and collected around him 
by throwing apples to them." This was certainly preaching 
under difficulties. But the devoted ministers of the Church 
here, at that period, were subjected to many such experiences. 
Gov. Dudley, as late as 1702, writes that there are in "Massa- 
chusetts, or New England, seventy thousand souls, in seventy 
towns, all Dissenters, that have ministers and schools of their 
own persuasion, except one congregation of the Church of 
England, at Boston, where there are two ministers." And Rev. 
George Keith, who was the first missionary sent over here by 
the Church of England " Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts," and whose appearance at Lynn, where 
.he gave vigorous battle to the Quakers, will be noticed under 
date 1702, says, writing at about the same time Dudley wrote, 
" There is no Church nor Church of England school eastward 
of the province of New York, viz : Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and New Hampshire, except at 
Boston, where there is one Church, consisting of a large con- 
gregation, having two ministers, Mr. Myles and Mr. Bridge, and 
one in Rhode Island, consisting of a large congregation and one 
minister, viz : Mr. Lockier, and another in Braintry, which has 
no minister." Such was the prosperity of the Church, in New 
England, about three quarters of a century after the emigrants 
" with much sadness of heart and many tears " in their eyes, 
began to arrive hither from the land where their " dear mother " 
specially dwelt. 
J 



110 HISTORY OF LYNU. 

[That the Church of England, as a branch of the government, 
was guilty of persecution, in some instances, may not be denied. 
But the Episcopal Church, when established here, was divested 
of temporal power ; and has stood as free from any just charge 
of attempting to tyrannize as any Chi'istian body ever known 
upon the American continent. 

[Let it not be said, however, that the Puritans accomplished 
little or no good. They restored much of the excellent that 
had been lost among the lumber of the dark, superstitious, and 
infidel ages. They gave to the Christian world, it may almost 
literally be said, a Sabbath. For before their time the Lord's 
day had been regarded as a festiv^al, instituted by the early 
Christians in commemoration of the Eesurrection. But they, 
while at home, in the bosom of their " dear mother," and here, 
with their backs turned upon her, persisted in investing the 
day with all the sanctity and incidents of the day proclaimed 
holy amid the lightnings of Sinai. And they succeeded in lead- 
ing the Church herself to adopt their views. And in this coun- 
try, at this day, no body of Christians is more careful in the 
observance of the Lord's day as a Sabbath than the Episcopal 
Church. And did not the Puritans, here, with an energy and 
wisdom unknown before, address themselves to the intellectual 
culture of mankind, establishing schools in every quarter, where 
to the poor as well as the rich were dispensed the inestimable 
blessings of education ? Let us not unduly magnify their er- 
rors — let us not eternally discourse about their hanging Qua- 
kers, persecuting Baptists and pressing witches — but rather 
let us honor ourselves by imitating their sterling integrity and 
endeavoring to perpetuate the noble institutions they founded.] 



CHAPTER II. 



ANNALS, 



1629. 

Lyxn is one of the earliest towns planted in Massachnsetts. 
Its settlement was begun in 1G29. Among the authorities for 
assigning the settlement to this year, is the Rev. Samuel Dan- 
forth's almanac for the year 1647. He gives a list of the first 
towns settled in this state, to which he prefixes these words : 
"The time when these townes following began — Lynn, 1629." 
By several ancient manuscripts, it appears that the settlement 
must have commenced as early as the first of June. 

The first white men known to have been inhabitants of Lynn, 
were Edmund Ingalls and his brother Francis Ingalls. A 
record preserved in the family of the former says, " Mr. Edmund 
Ingalls came from Lincolnshire, in England, to Lynn, in 1629." 
He was a farmer, and settled in the eastern part of the town, 
near a small pond in Fayette street. The place where his house 
stood is still pointed out by his descendants. He had a malt 
house near the margin of the pond. When the lands were divi- 
ded, in 1638, there were apportioned "to Edmund and Francis 
Ingalls, upland and meadow, 120 acres." He was accidentally 
drowned, in March, 1648, by foiling with his horse through the 
old Saugus river bridge, on Boston street ; for which the Gen- 
eral Court paid one hundred pounds ($444) to his children. 
His estate was valued at £135 8s. lOd., including '* house and 
lands, £50." The name of his wife was Ann, and he had nine 
children, six of whom were born in England. 1, Robert, who 
inherited his father's " house and houselot." 2. Elizabeth. 3. 
Faith, who married Andrew Allen. 4. John, to whom his father 
gave "the house and ground that was Jeremy ffits, (Fitch,) 
lying by the meeting4iouse, and tijat three acres land he hath in 
England." 5. Sarah, who married Wilh'am Bitner. 6. Henry, 
who was born in 1627, and removed to Andover, where he died 
in 1719, aged 92 years. A descendant of his, Capt. Henry In- 

(111) 



112 mSTORY OF LYNN. 

galls, died in 1803, aged 84 years. About a year before Lis 
death he added the following note to the family genealogy : 
" Mr. Henry Ingals, from whom all these spring, was born in 
the 3'ear 1G27, and he died in the year 1719, who lived ninety- 
two years, and two months after his death I, Henry Ingals, was 
Born, who have lived eighty-three years, So that we two Henry 
Ingals hath Lived on this Earth one hundred and seventy-five 
years." 7. Samuel. 8. Mary. 9. Joseph. The descendants of 
Mr. Edmund Ingalls, in this and other towns, are numerous and 
respectable, and several of them eminent in the learned profes- 
sions. [One or two interesting particulars appear in the peti- 
tion of the children of Mr. Ingalls for redress on the loss of 
their father. The paper reads as follows : " The humble petition 
of Robert Ingalls with the rest of his brethren and sisters, being 
eight in number, humbly sheweth, that whereas your poor peti- 
tioners father hath been deprived of life by the insu£Sciency 
of Lynne Bridge, so called, to the great impoverishinge of your 
poore petitioners mother and themselves, and there being a 
Court order that any person soe dyeinge through such insuffi- 
ciency of any bridge in the countrye, that there should be an 
hundred pounds forfeit to the next heire, may it therefore please 
this honorable Court to take your poore petitioners case into 
consideration."] 

Francis Ingalls, brother of Edmund — was born in England 
in 1601. He was a tanner, and lived at Swampscot. He built a 
tannery on Humfrey's brook, where it is crossed by a stone 
bridge in Burrill street. I saw the vats before they were taken 
up in 1825. This was the first tannery in New England. [And 
perhaps its establishment gave the first direction to the great 
business of the place — shoemaking. When the leather was 
made, it was natural enough to turn attention to means for di- 
rectly applying it to the common necessities of life.] 

William Dixey — was born in England in 1607, and came over 
a servant with Mr. Isaac Johnson. [Common laborers and 
craftsmen were frequently called servants to those by whom 
they were for the time being employed.] On his arrival at Sa- 
lem, he says, in a deposition in Essex Court, 1 July, 1657, that 
application was made for him and others, " for a place to set 
down in ; upon which Mr. Endecott did give me and the rest 
leave to go where we would ; upon which we went to Saugus, 
now Linne, and there wee met with Sagamore James and som 
other Indians, who did give me and the rest leaue to dwell there 
or thereabouts ; whereupon I and the rest of my master's com- 
pany did cutt grass for our cattell, and kept them upon Nahant 
for som space of time ; for the Indian James Sagamore and the 
rest did give me and the rest in behalf of my master Johnson, 
what land we would ; whereupon wee sett down in Saugust, and 



ANNALS — 1629. 113 

had quiet possession of it by the abovesaid Indians, and kept 
our cattell in Nahant the sumer following." Mr, Dixey was 
admitted a freeman at the first General Court, in 1634. He re- 
moved to Salem, says Felt, and kept a ferry-boat across the 
North River. [He had several children baptized in Salem, and 
died in 1690, aged 82.] 

William Wood — came to Lynn in 1629, and was admitted a 
freeman 18 May, 1631. He resided here, according to his own 
account, about four years ; and during that time he wrote an 
interesting work, entitled " New Englands Prospect," contain- 
ing a very favorable account of the early settlements. On 15 
August, 1633, he sailed with Captain Thomas Graves, for Lon- 
don, where, in 1634, he printed his book, in one hundred pages. 
In 1635, he published a map of New England, engraved on 
wood. He returned to Lynn the same year. He embarked on 
the eleventh of September, in the Hopewell, of London, being 
then 27 years of age ; bringing with him his wife, Elizabeth, aged 
24 years, as appears by the records in Westminster Hall, London. 
In 1636, he was chosen representative. In 1637, he went with 
a company of about fifty men, and commenced a settlement at 
Sandwich. He was chosen town clerk there, and was a very 
active, intelligent, and talented man. His book is one of the 
most interesting and valuable which was written at that early 
period, and several extracts from it will be found in these pages. 
[Shattuck thinks Mr. Wood went to Concord, where he resided 
many years, dying there, 14 May, 1671, aged 86. There were 
several of the same name, in the settlements, and hence oppor- 
tunity for confusion among genealogists. It is pleasant for one 
to locate eminent individuals in the society of his ancestors, 
and some appear over-anxious to do so. There is, however, no 
doubt as to Mr. Wood's having resided at Lynn.] 

John Wood — was a farmer, and lived on the corner of Essex 
and Chesnut streets. When the lands were divided, in 1638, 
100 acres were allotted to him. I think that William Wood, the 
writer, was his son, and AVilliam Wood of Salem, his brother. 

Such was the little band who commenced the first settlement 
in the wilderness of Lynn. Five men, with their families, prob- 
ably comprising about twenty persons. They did not settle at 
Sagamore Hill, because the Indians were there ; nor on the 
Common, because that was a forest ; but coming from Salem, 
they selected a " faire playne," somewhat less than half a mile 
in extent, where they built their rude cottages, ''and had peace- 
able possession." John Wood appears to have been the princi- 
pal person, and from him the vicinity has ever since been called 
" Woodend." There the soil of Lynn was first stirreci by the 
white men — there, surrounded by Indians, they laid the foun- 
dation of a town. 

J* 8 



114 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

[There was a fashion of constructing temporary habitations, 
prevailing, more or less, particularly among the poorer class of 
farmers, at an early period, which deserves notice for its inge- 
nuity and security, and for the comfort it afforded in winter. 
A square pit was dug, of such dimensions as convenience re- 
quired, to the depth of six or seven feet. This was lined with 
boards or logs, and a roof made of poles covered with bark, 
apertures being left for lighting and for the escape of smoke. 
As late as 1650, the secretary of the province of New Nether- 
lands, writing in Dutch, speaks of houses constructed after this 
fashion. He however describes them as being generally finished 
in rather better style, and sa3'-s that the wealthy and principal 
men in New England, in the beginning of the colonies, com- 
menced their dwellings in this way.] 

1630. 

Early in the spring, eleven vessels, having on board about 
seventeen hundred persons, left the harbor of Southampton, and 
sailed for New England. In the number of the passengers were 
Mr. John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts; with 
many other persons of dignity, wealth, and reputation. As Mr. 
Humfrey, who had been chosen deputy governor, was not ready 
to remove, Mr. Thomas Dudley was chosen in his stead. In 
the month of 'June, the ships arrived at Salem, and the passen- 
gers began to make settlements in the pathless woods. Mr. 
Dudley says that some of them settled " upon the river of Sau- 
gus." Others went to Charlestown and Boston ; and the rest 
began new settlements at Roxbury, Dorchester, Watertown, and 
Medford. The Council had agreed that each person who ad- 
vanced fifty pounds, should have 200 acres ; and that each one 
who came over on his own expense, should have 50 acres. 
The following persons appear to have arrived at Lynn, this year. 

Joseph Armitage — lived on the north side of the Common, 
a little east of Mall street, his land extending. to Strawberry 
brook. He was a tailor, and was admitted a freeman in 1637. 
Some years after, he became the proprietor of a corn and slitting 
mill on Saugus river. (Essex Reg. Deeds.) He opened the 
first tavern in the town, called the Anchor. (Mass. archives.) 
It stood on the Boston road, a little west of the river. For a 
hundred and seventy years, this was the most celebrated tavern 
in Essex county, being half way from Salem to Boston. He 
died 27 June, 1080, aged 80 years. His wife, Jane, died March 
3, 1675. His children were John, and Rebecca, who married 
Samuel Tarbox, in 1665. 

Godfrey Armitage — was a farmer, and was admitted a free- 
man in 1638. [He was by trade a tailor, as was Joseph; and 
they may have been brothers. Godfrey removed to Boston, 




ANNAJLS— 1G30. - 115 

where he reared a family ; and some of his descendants became 
prominent,] 

James Axey — was a farmer, a representative in 1G54, and 
died in 1669. His wife, Frances, died the same .year. 

Allen Breed — was a farmer, and lived near the point where 
Summer street crosses the Turnpike. In 1638 he had 200 acres 
allotted to him. He was born in 1601. The name of his wife 
was Elizabeth, and his children were Allen, Timothy, Joseph, 
and John. His descendants are numerous, and from him the 
vicinity in which he resided was called Breed's End. [He was 
one of the Long Island settlers, but returned. And it is assert- 
ed that Breed's Hill, in Charlestown, where the battle of Bunker 
Hill was fought, took its name from him. In early times the 
name was spelled Bread, and there was more uniformity in the 
spelling than there was in that of 
most names. Appended is a fac- 
simile of his autograph. It is a 
careful tracing from his signature' 
on a document in the county ar- Signature of Allen Breed, 
chives. 

William Ballard — was a farmer, and was admitted a free- 
man in 1638. In the same year he was a member of the Essex 
Court. His children were John, Nathaniel, and Elizabeth. [Mr, 
Ballard seems to have died in 1641. Nicholas Brown and Gar- 
rett Spencer made oath before Messrs. Bradstreet and Nowell, 
in March of that year, " that being w"^ M^ Willm Ballard of Linn 
a day or two before his death & perswadinge him to make his 
will," he told them that " he intended to do it the next day, 
but .... dyed before he could put it in wrightinge. He 
would leave his [wife Sarah ?] half his estate, and the other half 
to be devided amongst his children ; the said William Ballard 
beinge then of pfect minde," (Suffolk Recs.)] 

George Bcrrill — lived on the west- . n -v^ h^ 
ern side of Tower Hill. He was a farm- /V ^ ^ 7 
er, and had 200 acres of land. A fac- 
simile of his autograph is here given — 
traced from the signature to his will, _ 

dated 18 October, 1053. [He was one o- ^^r^ ^^^"„ 
of the richest of the planters. His wife Signature of Geo. Burnll. 
was named Mary, and both he and she died in 1653. His chil- 
dren were: ||George; ||Francis; ||John. \\Georqe removed 
to Boston and was a cooper. He married Deborah Simpkins, 
and died 5 July, 1698. He had children, George, born 13 Feb. 
1654; Samuel, b. 10 Jan., 1056; Sarah, who married John 
Soutlier. II Francis's wife was named Elizabeth ; and he had chil- 
dren, Elizabeth, born 1 Dec. 1655; James, b. 21 Dec. 1657; Jo- 
seph, b. 18 Dec, 1659 ; Mary, who died young, b. 16 May, 1661 ; 




116 , ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 

Lydia, b. 13 June, 1663; Hannah, b. 19 March, 1665; Mary, 
who lived but ten days, b. 7 Feb., 1668; Deborah, b. 23 July, 
1669, and died the next month; Moses, b. 12 April, 1671 ; Hes- 
ter, b. 15 Jan., 1674; Sarah, b. 11 April, 1676, and died in infan- 
cy; Samuel, who also died in infancy. i| John married Lois Ivory, 
10 May, 1656, and had children, John, b. 18 Nov. 1658 ; Sarah, 
b. 16 May, 1661, and died 27 Dec, 1714 ; Thomas, b. 7 Jan., 
1664; Anna, b. 15 Sept., 1666; Theophilus, b. 15 July, 1669 ; 
Lois, b. 27 Jan., 1672; Samuel, b. 20 April, 1674; Mary, b. 18 
Feb., 1677; Ebenezer, b. 13 July, 1679; Ruth, b. 17 May, 1682. 
The last named John, he who was born 18 Nov., 1658, became 
quite distinguished for his talents, and for skill as a presiding 
officer in the General Court. He died in 1721. See a bio- 
graphical notice of him beginning on page 489. His brother 
Ebenezer was also conspicuous as a public man, and known as 
the Hon. Ebenezer. He died in 1761. See notice, page 492. 
Sarah, who was born 16 May, 1661, married John Pickering, of 
Salem, and became grandmother of Hon, Timothy Pickering, 
the eminent statesman and intimate friend of Washington. Hon. 
James Burrill, LL. D., who was made chief justice of the Supreme 
Court of Rhode Island, in 1816, and was afterward distinguished 
as a United States senator from that State, was a great-great- 
grandson of II John, (known as Lieut. John, and youngest son of 
the first George.) Other conspicuous descendants of this early 
settler will be named elsewhere. The Burrill family was form- 
erly called the royal family of Lynn, in view of the many famous 
persons connected with it.] 

Edward Baker — was a farmer, and lived on the south side 
of Baker's Hill, in Saugus. He was admitted a freeman in 1638 ; 
and was buried March 16, 1687. His wife, Joan, died April 9, 
1693. His sons were Edward, who married Mary Marshall, 
April 7, 1675 ; and Thomas, who married Mary Lewis, July 10, 
1689. [Mr. Baker removed to Northampton about 1658, and 
there had grants of land. He remained many years, respected 
and influential. Mr. Lewis is incorrect in one or two particu- 
lars. The name of Mr. Baker's wife was Jane, and he had five 
sons — Joseph, Timothy, Edward, Thomas, and John. He finally 
returned to Lynn; but his sons Joseph and Timothy remained 
?it Northampton. John is supposed to have settled in Dedbam, 
and become the head of an extensive family. The will of Mr. 
Baker is dated 16 Oct. 1685, and having previously provided 
for some of his children by deed, not all of them are named in it. 
He exhorts his family to live peaceable and pious lives, and 
desires for himself a decent funeral, suitable to his rank and 
quality while living. Timothy was a prominent man in North- 
ampton, and some of his descendants became conspicuous; 
among them, Hon. Osmyn Baker, late member of Congress. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 117 

[Captain Thomas Baker, son of Timothy, just named, and 
of course a grandson of Edward, the early Lynn settler, was 
taken captive by the Indians, at Deerfield, on the terrible 
night of 29 Feb., 1704, and carried to Canada. He however, 
the next year, succeeded in efiecting his escape. In or about 
the year 1715, he married Madam Le Beau, whose name figures 
somewhat in the history of that period. And the lives of both 
husband and wife furnish touching and romantic passages. She 
was a daughter of Richard Otis, of Dover, N. H., who, with one 
son and one daughter, was killed by the Indians on the night 
of 27 Juno, 1689, at the time they destroyed the place. She 
was then an infant of three months, and was, with her mother, 
carried captive to Canada and sold to the French. The priests 
took her, baptised her, and gave her the name of Christine. 
They educated her in the Romish faith, and she passed some 
time in a nunnery, not, however, taking the veil. At the age 
of sixteen she was married to a Frenchman, thus becoming 
Madam Le Beau, and became the mother of two or three chil- 
dren. Her husband died about 1713. And it was very soon 
after that her future husband, Capt. Baker, appears to have 
fallen in with her. He was attached to the commission detailed 
by Gov. Dudley, under John Stoddard and John Williams for 
the purpose of negotiating with the Marquis de Yaudreuil for 
the release of prisoners and to settle certain other matters, and 
went to Canada. From Stoddard's journal it appears that there 
was much trouble in procuring her release, and when it was 
obtained, her children were not allowed to go with her. Her 
mother was also opposed to her leaving Canada. 

[After her return, Christine married Capt. Baker, and they 
went to reside at Brookfield, where they remained till 1733. 
They had several children, and among their descendants is Hon. 
John Wentworth, late member of Congress from Illinois. She 
became a protestant after marrying Capt. Baker, and substituted 
the name Margaret for Christine, though later in life she seems 
to have again adopted the latter. In 1727, her former confes- 
sor, Father Siguenot wrote her a gracious letter, expressing a 
high opinion of her and warning her against swerving from the 
faith in which she had been educated. He mentions the happy 
death of a daughter of hers who had married and lived in Que- 
bec, and also speaks of her mother, then living, and the wife 
'of a Frenchman. This letter was shown to Gov. Burnet, and 
he wrote to her a forcible reply to the arguments it contained 
in favor of Romanism. And there are, or recently were, three 
copies of the letter and reply, in the Boston Athenaeum. The 
mother of Christine had children by her French husband, and 
Philip, Christine's half-brother, visited her at Brookfield. 

[All the children of Capt. Baker and Christine, seven or eight 



118 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 

in number, excepting the first, wlio was a daughter, bearing 
her mother's name, were born in Brookfield. There is no rea- 
son to doubt that the connection was a happy one. They held 
a very respectable position, and he was the first representative 
from Brookfield. He was, indeed, once tried before the Supe- 
rior Court, at Springfield, in 1727, for blasphemy ; but the jury 
acquitted him. The offence consisted in his remarking, Avhile 
discoursing on God's providence in allowing Joseph Jennings, 
of Brookfield, to be made a justice of the peace — ''If I had 
been with the Almighty I would have taught him better." 

[In 1733 Capt. Baker sold his farm in I3rookfield. But this 
proved an unfortunate step, for the purchaser failed before mak- 
ing pa^'meut, and their circumstances became greatly reduced. 
They were a short time at Mendon, and also at Newport, R. I., 
before finally removing to Dover. Poor Christine, in 1735, pe- 
titioned the authorities of New Hampshire for leave to "keep 
a house of public entertainment" on the " County Rhoade from 
Dover meeting house to Cocheco Boome." In this petition she 
signs her name " Christine baker," and mentions that she made 
a journey to Canada, in the hope of getting her children, " but 
all in vaine." A license was granted, and it seems probable 
that she kept the house a number of years. She died, at a great 
age, 23 Feb., 1773, and an obituary notice appeared in the Bos- 
ton Evening Post. The Mrs. Bean mentioned in the N. H. Hist. 
Colls, as having died, 6 Feb., 1826, at the age of a hundred years, 
was Mary, the daughter of Capt. Baker and Christine. She pos- 
sessed her faculties to the last, and her eyesight was so perfect 
that she could, without glasses, see to thread a needle. Col. 
Benjamin Bean, of Conway, N. H., was a grandson of this aged 
granddaughter of Edward Baker the Lynn settler. 

[I have given this connected recital, though hardly knowing 
how to aflbrd the space, not only on account of the romantic 
incidents touched upon, but also because it aptly illustrates 
occurrences frequent in those days.] 

John Bancroft — died in 1637. He had two sons, Thomas 
and John, and his descendants remain. [The name was some- 
times spelled B a r c r o f t ; indeed it is questionable whether that 
was not the original spelling, the change easily occurring. Jane, 
the wife with whom this settler was blessed, does not seem to 
have been the most amiable of women. By the record of the 
Court held at Boston, in 1633, it appears that, "M'" John Bar- 
croft doeth acknowledge to owe vnto o"" Souaigne, the King, 
the some of xU. & M'' Samll Mauacke the som of xxZ. &c. The 
condicon of this recognizance is, that Jane Barcroft, wife of the 
said John, shall be of good behav'' towards all psons." George 
Bancroft, the eminent historian, is a lineal descendant from this 
Lynn planter.] 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G30. 119 

Samuel Bennet — was a carpenter, and a member of the An- 
cient Artillery Company, in 1G39. A pine forest in the northern 
part of Lynn still retains the name of Bennet's Swamp. He 
resided in the western part of Saiigus, and when the towns 
were divided, the line passed through his land, eastward of his 
house, so that afterward he was called an inhabitant of Boston. 

NiCFiOLAS Brown — was a farmer, and Jived on Walnut street, 
in Saugus. He removed to Reading, in 1644. He had a son, 
Thomas, who continued in Lynn, and died, 28 Aug. 1693. His 
descendants remain. 

Boniface Burton — was a farmer, and was admitted a free- 
man, 6 May, 1635. He was the oldest man who ever lived at 
Lynn. He died, 13 June, 1669, aged 113 years, according to 
Sewall. Another diarist makes him 115. His son Boniface 
removed to Reading. 

Thomas Chadwell — was a farmer, and lived in Summer 
street. He died in Feb. 1683. His sons were Thomas, Moses, 
and Benjamin. His descendants remain. [He had three wives; 
the first was named Margaret, and she died 29 Sept. 1658. He 
afterward removed to Boston, and married Barbara Brimblecom, 
a widow, who had survived two husbands. This second wife 
died in 1665, and for a third wife, he married Abigail Jones, of 
Charlestown, a widow. His son Moses was born 10 April, 1637.1 

Clemen>p Coldam — was a miller, and a member of the An- 
cient Artillery Company, in 1645. He had a son Clement, born 
in 1622, who removed to Gloucester, and died in 1703, 

Thomas Coldam — was admitted a freeman in 1634. He kept 
Mr. Humfrey's windmill, on Sagamore Hill, and died 8 April, 
1675, aged 74 years. 

William Cowory, born in 1602 — was a farmer. He removed 
to Reading in 1640, where he was Clerk of the Writs, Town 
Clerk, Selectman and Representative. 

Thomas Dexter — was a farmer, and lived on the west of Sau- 
gus river, near the L'on Works. He was admitted a freeman, 
18 May, 1631. He owned eight hundred acres of land, and was 
called, by way of excellence, " Farmer Dexter." He was a very 
active and enterprising man, an'd built a mill and a wear across 
Saugus river. Among, his speculations, he purchased Nahant 
of the Indian chief, Poquanum, called " Black Will," for a suit 
of clothes ; which occasioned the town an expensive lawsuit in 
1657, another in 1678, and a third in 1695. He became one of 
the first proprietors of the town of Sandwnch, in 1637, and pro- 
moted its settlement, but did not remove at that time. He had 
a son Thomas, a grandson Richard, and a great-grandson William; 
but none of his descendants remain at Lynn. 

Robert Driver — was a farmer, and lived in Shepard street, 
on the south of which a creek still bears his name. He was 



120 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G30. 

made a freeman in 1635, and died 3 April, 1G80, aged 88 years. 
His wife, Phebe, died in February, 1683. He bad a son, Rob- 
ert, who was a soldier in the Indian War of 1675. 

William Edmunds — was admitted a freeman in 1635, and 
died 4 Aug. 1693. His children were John ; and Samuel, who 
married Elizabeth Bridges, 27 Jan. 1685. [He was a tailor by 
trade. His wife Mary died 2 April, 1657, and five months after 
he married a widow Ann Martin, at Boston. Besides John and 
Samuel, he had children, Joseph and Mary. The latter married 
Joseph Hutchings, 1 Sept. 1657. He was 82 years old at the 
time of his death.] 

George Fare — was a farmer in the eastern part of Essex 
street. He was admitted a freeman in 1635, and died in 1661. 
His wife Elizabeth was buried 11 March, 1687. His children 
were, John, Lazarus, Benjamin, Joseph, Mary, Martha, Elizabeth, 
and Sarah. [Mr. Farr came over in 1629. He was a ship- 
wright.] 

Henry Feake — was admitted a freeman, 14 May, 1632, and 
removed to Sandwich in 1637. [He was a Representative in 
1643 and '4. About 1656 he was residing at Newtown, L. I. 
John Dillingham married a daughter of his, 24 March, 1654.] 

Jeremiah Fitch — was a farmer, and lived in Shepard street. 
He removed to Reading in 1644. 

Samuel Graves — was a farmer, and lived on the Turnpike, 
west of the Floating Bridge, and from him the neighborhood 
has ever since been called Gravesend. In 1635, he gave nearly 
X300 to the colony. He had a son Samuel, and his descendants 
remain. [The son Samuel married Sarah Brewer, 12 March, 
1678, and had children, Crispus, born 3 Aug. 1679 ; Hannah, b. 
27 Aug. 1681; Samuel, b. 2 Aug. 1684.] 

John Hall — was admitted a freeman in 1634. Edward Hall, 
son of John, was a farmer, and died in 1669. His children were 
Joseph, Ephraim, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Martha. His descend- 
ants remain. [I think this John Hall must have been the one 
who, in 1640, was a Salisbury proprietor, and married, 3 April, 
1641, Rebecca, widow of Henry Bayley,by whom he had a sou 
John, born 18 March, 1642. He was dead in 1650, as his widow, 
in July of that year, married Rev. William Worcester, the first 
minister of Salisbury. And after the death of Mr. Worcester, 
which took place in 1663, she married, as a fourth husband. 
Deputy Governor Symonds, whom she outlived, and died in 
1695. As to Edward, Mr. Lewis is without doubt wrong in 
some particulars. There may have been two of the name here. 
Edward, son of John, by his wife Sarah, had children, Joseph, 
born 3 July, 1646; Ephraim, b. 8 September, 1648; Sarah, b. 
in August, 1651; Elizabeth, b. 30 April, 1654; Rebecca, b. 30 
April, 1657. And Savage treats him as the same individual who 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 121 

was so oddly named in the will of Benjamin Keayne, of Boston^ 
who, probably through his son, at one time a resident of Lynn, 
had various connections with the people here. If so identified, 
he must have been a carpenter, though he may have carried on 
farming to some extent. " To Edward Hall, of Lyn, carpenter," 
says Mr. Keayne's will, " as an acknowledgm* of his Loueing 
seruice to me, (though of Later yeares he hath Carryed it lesse 
deseruing, & fuller of more Just provocation,) three pounds."] 

Adam Hawkes — was a farmer, and settled on the Hawkes 
Farms, in Saugus. He owned the land where the iron ore was 
found, and filled up one of the mines, on the supposition that it 
contained silver. Soon after his settlement, his house was 
burned. The only persons in it at the time, were a servant girl 
and two twin infants, who escaped. He died in 1671. His sons 
were, Adam, John, Moses, Benjamin, and Thomas. His descend- 
ants remain. 

John Hawkes — was admitted a freeman in 1634, and died 5 
Aug. 1694. [I think Mr. Lewis is wrong in making this John 
Hawkes, the one who was admitted a freeman in 1G34. The 
only John here, at that period, was probably the young son of 
Adam, though there was an older person of the name in the 
vicinity. The John who died here, 5 Aug. 1694, is called in 
the record of his decease, senior, and would, as respects age, 
answer well as the son of Adam. He married, 3 June, 1658, 
Rebecca Maverick, and she died in 1659, at the birth of their 
son Moses. He married again, 11 April, 1661. His second 
wife was Sarah Cushman, and he had by her, Susanna, born 
29 Nov. 1662; Adam, b. 12 May, 1664; Anne, b. 3 May, 1666; 
John, b. 25 April, 1668; Rebecca, b, 18 Oct. 1670; Thomas, b. 
18 May, 1673; and Mary, b. 14 Nov. 1675. Within twenty 
days of the latter date, he experienced a severe affliction in the 
loss, by death, of all his daughters, excepting the infant Mary.] 

Edward Holyoke — was a farmer, and had 500 acres of land. 
He was. a member of the Essex Court, and was many times 
chosen represeiitative. In 1656 he owned the western side 
of Sagamore HilL He died 4 Ma}', 1660. In his will he beseeches 
God to impress his children with the importance of private 
prayer and public worship, and bequeaths each of them a lock 
of his hair. His children were, Elizur, who removed to Spring- 
field, and married Mary Pynchon ; and Elizabeth, who married 
George Keyser. An excellent spring, in the western part of 
Lynn, surrounded by willows, is well known by the name of 
Holyoke spring. [This spring is near the western margin of 
the meadow lying immediately north of Holyoke street, and 
west of Walnut, formerly known as Pan Swamp.] An eminent 
descendant of this settler. Dr. Edward A, Holyoke, of Salem, 
died 31 March, 1830, aged a hundred years and seven months. 
K 



122 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 

[The two children named by Mr. Lewis, Elizur and Elizabeth, 
were not the only offspring- of Mr, Holyoke. He had daughters, 
Ann, who married Lieut. Thomas Putnam, 17 Oct. 1643; Mary, 
who married John Tuttle of Boston, 10 Feb. 1647 ; Susanna, 
who married Michael Martin, 12 Sept. 1656; and Sarah, who 
married an Andrews. He also had sons, Edward and John, who 
were born in England and died there, at early ages. Mr. Hol- 
yoke's will is a curious document ; and most of it is here given, 
because it so well exhibits his spirit and so faithfully exposes 
the condition of things at that time, in several interesting par- 
ticulars. It was made 25 Dec. 1658, and he died 4 May, 1660. 

As for the holy faith of the holy one, God in triuitie, and of the holy faith 
of our glorious Lord, the son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam, 
I haue composed A hooke and doe bestowell vpon each of my sonns in law as 
their best legacy, &.c. (Being instfucted chiefly by an understanding of the 
Scriptures) I doubt not my booke will giue him A hart of all sound doctrine. 

Touching my worldly estate, I dispose the yoke of Oxen and my mai"e, to 
my sonn in law, George Keysar, and my mare fbale and A Cow, to my soun 
Prenam ; tow kine to my soun Andrewes ; A Cow to my dau. Marten. These 
Oxen and kine are in tlie hands of Goodman Wilkins, of Linn ; the mare and 
foale is at Rumney Marsh. I giue to iny sonn Tuttle, that £4 yearely hee 
should haue giueji mee since I put ouer the house in Boston to him. I neuer 
yet had a penney of it ; 40s. I gaue him of that, so theare is yet £6 beehind 
and theare is £5 mentioned in Goodman Wilkins Case that hee oweth mee, I 
giue to my dau. Marf.n, and 20s. to my kinswoman Mary IMansfeild, and 10s. 
of it to Jolm Dolittle, and 10s. of it to my kiusman Thomas Morris, of New- 
ham, and 10s. of it to Hannah Keasur. I giue my best Cloake of that Cloth 
that cam from England to my sonn Holyoke, as allsoe my Coate of the same 
clotli. I giue my other Cloke to my sonn Keaser, my best Dublet and breeches 
to my sonn Tuttle, my stuff dulilet and my best hat to my sonn Holyoke ; all 
the rest of my weareing apparell to my sonn Keasar. As touching the who! 
yeares rent of this yeare 1658, that is Dew mee from Goodman Wilkins, of 
Linn, I owe Theodore Atkins 49s. ; pay him in wheate ; I owe Jolm Hull 
Aboute 22s.; pay him in wheate; jiay JMr. Russell, treasurer, 3 bushells of 
wheate ; for John Andrewes, 8 bushells of wheate to Mr. Wilson Paster at 
Boston, and 8 bushell of Indian. As for my Linell, let all my daui's. part 
alike. The 20s. Goodman Page oweth me, as my sonn Tuttle caun witness, 
I give my dau. Martin. There is about 15s. Capt. Sauige oweth mee; intreat 
him to satisfie my Cosan Dauis, and the rest giue to my dau. Marten. As for 
my books and wrightings, I giue my sonn Holyoke all the books tliat are at 
Linn, as allsoe the Iron Chest, and the bookes I haue in my study that are 
Mr. Beanghans works I giue him, hee onely cann make vse of them, and 
likewise I giue all my maniscripts what soeuer, and I giue him that large new 
testament in folio, with wast papers between euery leafe, allso 3Ir. Answorth 
on the 5 books of Moses and the psalmes, and my dixinary and TemelHus 
bible in Latten, and my latten Concent and daniell bound together, and A 
part of the New testament in Folio, wi^h wast paper betwin euery leafe, and 
the greate niapps of geneolagy, and that old maniscript called a Synas sight ; 
the rest, for A muskett I gaue of olde to my sonn Holyoke : All my land in 
Linn, and that land and Mcdow in the Country neere Reding, all was giuen 
to my somi Holyoke, when he maried M^ Pinchors Daughter. 

P'^ me. Edword Holyoke. 

[Mr. Holyoke's son Elizur administered on the estate, and 
the inventory was taken 19 June, 1660. John Tuttle and John 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 123 

Doolittle were appraisers, and tbe amount was £681. " A farme 
at Lynne, £400 ; 3 acres at Nahant, £6 ; a larme at Bever dame, 
neare Reading, £150;" two oxen, £12; four cows, £16; and 
his books, £20 ; are the principal items. 

[Mr. Holyoke was from Tamworth, Warwickshire, where he 
married, 18 June, 1612, Prudence, daughter of Rev. John Stock- 
ton, rector of Kinkolt, His father, who was likewise named 
Edward, is thought to be tbe same " Edward Hollyocke " men- 
tioned in the will of the father of Ann Hathaway, wife of the 
immortal Shakspeare, where be is spoken of as having a claim 
of twenty shillings, for wood, 

[It is evident that Mr. Holyoke, quite early in life, had bis 
mind directed to the consideration of sacred things. And on 
tbe whole he seems to have been rather a lively exponent of 
puritan character. On 12 May, 1612, about a month before his 
marriage, he wrote to Miss Stockton a long epistle, from which 
a few passages are here introduced, the orthography being mod- 
ernized. " Let us resolve," be says, " with an unfeigned heart 
in constancy and perseverance to follow tbe Eternal, and to 
cleave unto him all our days ; to set him up in our hearts to 
be our God ; to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and 
strength; to worship him in spirit and truth, according to his 
revealed will; to sanctify his name in bis word, in his works, in 
our holy conversation ; to keep bis Sabbath with joy of heart 
and delighting in the Lord ; in it not doing our own will, but 
sanctifying it wholly to the Lord. If this be in our hearts, in 
deed and in truth, then we shall be faithful to each other, not 
sinning against one another; for you have set me on your heart 
and me alone, to be thine ; thy husband, the veil of thine eyes 
in the sight of all ; thy head. If this be so, then cleave to me, 
to me alone ; let your affections be mine, your desires mine. 
And I have set thee on my heart, and thee alone, to make thee 
my spouse, my companion, tbe wife of my youth ; to enter into 
covenant with thee before God, never to transgress against 
thee, but to love you only, even as myself; to care for you, to 

rejoice with you, to wander in thy love continually Me- 

thinks I see the preparation that Prudence makes for the day 
of solemnity ; every thing in readiness, that she will not forget 
an ornament ; every thing in such conveniency. Ob, will you 
thus prepare for this marriage, which is but for a time? Labor 
to be truly spiritual, that this may be, above all things, the 
chief of your thoughts, to prepare for that eternal marriage with 
Christ Jesus in the last day." 

[The name of Mount Holyoke, in Hampshire county, it is said, 
was derived from Elizur, the son named as having married Mary 
Pynchon, and who became a very conspicuous and useful man. 
Few names appear on the records of the colony in connection 



124 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 

with more enterprises of a public nature than that of Elizur 
Holyoke, and few are more highly spoken of for their services. 
There is a tradition that during an exploration by some of the 
settlers of Springfield, five or six years after they first located 
there, Elizur Holyoke, with a party, went up the east side of the 
river, while Rowland Thomas, with another party, went up the 
west side. On reaching a narrow place, between the mountains, 
a conversation took place, across the water, between Holyoke 
and Thomas, concerning the naming of the mountains. And 
finally it was determined to give the name of Holyoke to that 
on the east, and the name of Thomas to that on the west. The 
latter soon came to be called Mount Tom ; but the former was 
more fortunate in retaining the integrity of its name. A worthy 
writer says of Elizur Holyoke : " His whole life was devoted to 
the service of the people among whom he lived." He was 
appointed by the General Court, in 1652, one of the commis- 
sioners empowered to govern the Springfield settlers, " in all 
matters not extending to life and limb." He died 6 Feb. 1676. 
He had a son Elizur, the youngest of four, who was sent to 
Boston to learn the trade of a brazier, and who finally became 
prominent by his enterprise and wealth ; and his name will long 
survive from his association with the founders of the Old South 
Church. Edward Holyoke, president of Harvard College, was 
a son of his. The name is perpetuated in Lynn, through Hol- 
yoke street, in the vicinity of which Edward, the original settler, 
owned lands.] 

William Hathorne — was born in England, in 1607; was 
admitted a freeman in 1634 ; and removed to Salem. 

Daniel Howe, (Lieut.) — was admitted a freeman in 1634. 
He was a representative in five General Courts, and a mem- 
ber of the Ancient Artillery Company in 1638. He removed 
to New Haven. His son Ephraim was master of a vessel which 
sailed from Boston. In Sept. 1676, his vessel, in which were 
two of his sons and three other persons, was disabled by a 
storm, off Cape Cod, and driven to sea for several weeks, until 
his two sons, lashed to the deck by ropes, perished. The vessel 
was then cast on a desolate island, where the three other per- 
sons died. Mr. Howe was thus left alone, and found means to 
subsist for nine months, lodging and praying in a cave, till he 
was taken off by a vessel, in June. 

Edward Howe — was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman 
in 1636. He was several times chosen representative, and was 
a member of the Essex Court, in 1637. In April, 1639, after 
the Court was ended in Boston, having dined in his usual health, 
he went to the river side, to pass over to Charlestown, and 
while waiting for the ferry boat, fell dead on the shore. Gov. 
Winthrop says he was '* a Godly man." He had a son Edward. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G30. 125 

[Mr. Lewis has located him here at too early a date. He came 
in the Truelove, 1G35. He was G4 years old at the time of his 
death. He and Daniel Howe, the preceding, were brothei-s.] 

Thomas Hubbard — was admitted a freeman in 1634, and 
removed to Billerica. [His wife's name was Ehzabeth. He died 
in Nov. 1662.] 

Thomas Hudson — was a farmer, and lived on the western 
side of Saugus river. He owned the lands where the Iron 
Works were situated, part of which he sold for that purpose. 
He had a son Jonathan, whose descendants remain. 

Christopher Husse;y — was born in Darking, in Surrey, Eng- 
land, in 1598. He went to Holland, where he became enamored 
of Theodate, daughter of Rev. Stephen Bachiler, who had resid- 
ed there several years, but her father would not consent to 
their union, unless Mr. Hussey would remove to New England, 
whither he was preparing to go. Mr. Hussey came to Lynn 
with his mother, widow Mary Hussey, and his wife, in 1630, and 
here, the same year, his son Stephen was born, who was the 
second white child born in Lynn. He removed to Newbury, 
in 1636, and was chosen representative in 1637. In 1638, he 
became one of the first settlers of Hampton, and was chosen a 
counsellor. In 1685, he was cast away and lost on the coast 
of Florida, being 87 years of age. His children were Stephen, 
John, Joseph, Huldah, Theodate and Mary. 

George Keyser, born in 1616 — was a miller, at Swampscot, 
and was admitted a freeman in 1638. He married Elizabeth 
Holyoke, and had a son Elizur, who removed to Salem. 

Christopher Lindsey — lived as a servant with Thomas Dex- 
ter, and kept his cattle at Nahant. A hill on the notheastern 
part of Nahant is still called Lindsey's hill. He died in 1668. 
He had two sons, John and Eleazer, and his descendants remain. 
[Mr. Lindsey was wounded in the Pequot war, and in a petition 
to the Court, May, 1655, states that he was "disabled from 
service for 20 weekes, for which he neuer had any satisfaction." 
He was allowed three pounds. His only daughter, Naomi, was 
the first wife of Thomas Maule, of Salem, the famous Quaker, 
to whom she was married, 22 July, 1670. Maule published a 
book setting forth and maintaining the truth according to the 
Quaker view. And for this he was indicted. He afterward put 
forth another work — his ''Persecutors Mauled " — in which he 
remarks that they five times imprisoned him, thrice took away 
his goods, and thrice cruelly whipped him; besides their many 
other abuses.] 

Jonathan Negus — was born in 1601, and admitted a freeman 
in 1634. 

Thomas Newhall — was a farmer, and owned all the lands 
on the eastern side of Federal street, aa far north as Marion. 
K* 



126 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G30. 

His house stood on the east side of the former street, a few rods 
south of where the brook crosses. He had two sons. 1. John, 
born in England. 2. Thomas born in 1630, who was the first 
white child horn in Lynn. He married Elizabeth Potter, 29 
Dec. 1652, and was buried 1 April, 1687, aged 57. His wife 
was buried 22 Feb. 1687. His descendants are more numerous 
than those of any other name at Lynn, and there are many in 
the adjacent towns. [A fac-simile ^ 

of the autograph of this Thomas, "Jfl^^Tnc^ ^J^iM^f^^cL^ 
the first of the white race born 

in our precincts, is here given. Signature of Thomas Newhall. 
It was traced from his signature to an inventory filed in the 
court at Salem, in 1677, the last two letters being supplied, as 
the paper is so much worn as to render them illigible. I have; 
searched in vain for a proper signature of his father, who died 
25 May, 1674. His will is signed by " his mark." But as the 
document was executed just before his death, it is reasonable 
to conclude that infirmity, rather than ignorance, Avas the occa- 
sion of his signing in that suspicious manner. A somewhat 
extended genealogical view of the Newhall family will be given 
in another part of this work.] 

Robert Potter — was a farmer, and lived in Boston street. 
He was admitted a freeman in 1634. He had a daughter Eliza- 
beth. [He removed from town soon after he became a freeman. 
Under date 1685 Mr. Lewis gives the name of a Robert Potter, 
who was probably a son of this Robert. He went first to Rhode 
Island, but changed his place of abode two or three times. In 
1643, he, with others, was arrested for disseminating obnoxious 
doctrines,_ and brought to Boston. The government ordered 
them to discontinue their preaching, on jmin of death. They 
suffered imprisonment, confiscation of estate and banishment. 
Subsequently, however, by making complaint in England, they 
had their estates restored. In 1649, he kept an inn, at War- 
wick. He had a son John, and daughters Deliverance and Eliz- 
beth ; and, probably, a son Robert, his eldest child. He died 
in 1655.] 

John Ramsdell — was a farmer, and died 27 Oct. 1688, aged 
86. His wife, Priscilla, died 23 Jan. 1675. His sons Avere John 
and Aquila, and his descendants remain. 

Joseph Rednap — was a wine-cooper, from London, and was 
admitted a freeman in 1634. Judge Sewall, in his Diary, says 
he died on Friday, 23 Jan. 1686, aged 110 years. [But Judge 
Sewall must have made his entry touching the age, from exag- 
gerated reports. Mr. Rednap could not have been much, if any, 
above 90. And in the Judge's statement we have further evi- 
dence that in those days people took a singular pride, when one 
died at an age beyond the common limit, in giving him, to as 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1630. 127 

great an extent as the case would bear, the patriarchal charac- 
teristic of age. On 29 June, 1G69, Mr. Rednap gave certain 
testimony, which he swore to, in the Salem Court, in which he 
states himself to be " betwixt seventy and eighty years " old. 
He also, in evidence given in 1G57, states himself to be about 
six.ty. Now if he was GO in 1657, he would have been 72 in 
1669, and at the time of his death, in 1686, he would have been 
but 89 or 90. This conclusion, it will be observed, is drawn 
from his own statements, made under oath. Mr. Rednap was 
an anabaptist, or rather an anti-pedobaptist, and underwent some 
persecution as such.] 

Edward Richards, born in 1616 — was a joiner, and was ad- 
mitted a freeman in 1641. He lived in the eastern part of Essex 
street. On the third of April 1646, he sold to Daniel King, 
" one parcel of land, called Windmill Hill," being the eastern 
mound of Sagamore Hill He died 26 Jan. 1690, aged 74. His 
descendants remain. [His wife's name was Ann, and they had 
children, William, born 7 June, 1663 ; Daniel ; Mary ; Abigail ; 
and, it is thought, John. William was living abroad in 1688, as 
appears by a parental letter superscribed " These ftor my love- 
ing sonn William Richards Liveing att Philadelphia in pensylva- 
nah or elsewhere present," and sent " ffrom Lin in New Eng- 
land this 12th of June, 1688." The letter urges him to return 
to Lynn, as his parents are getting old, and much desire his 
presence. And they want him to make up his mind never to 
leave the place again ; the father agreeing, for his encourage- 
ment, to give him half of his place. In 1678 Mr. Richards made 
oath that he had lived here forty-five years. The inventory 
of his estate, taken about a month after his decease, by William 
Bassett, jr. and Samuel Johnson, gives an amount of X180 Is.] 

Daniel Salmon, born in 1610 — was a soldier in the Pequot 
war, in 1636. [He labored at the Iron Works, soon after their 
establishment.] He had a son Daniel, born 2 May, 1665. 

John Smith — was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman in 
1633. He removed to Reading. 

Samuel Smith — was a farmer, and lived at Sw^mpscot. His 
descendants remain. 

John Taylor — came from Haverhill, in England. His wife 
and children died on the passage. He was admitted a freeman, 
19 Oct. 1630, and lived on the western side of Saugus river. 

Edward Tomlins, (Capt.) — was a carpenter, and was admitted 
a freeman in 1631. He was six times chosen representative. 
In 1633, he built the first mill in Lynn, at the mouth of Straw- 
berry Brook, which flows from the Flax Pond, where Chase's 
mill now stands — [that is, at the point where Summer street 
now crosses the stream.] At one of the courts he agreed to 
repair Mistick bridge for £22. In 1638 he was a member of the 



128 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1630. 

Ancient Artillery Company. In 1G40 he went to Long Island, 
but returned to Lynn, and was appointed clerk of the writs, in 
1643. His son Edward came over in 1635, at the age of 30; 
but returned to London in 1644, and in 1679 was at Dubhu. 

[The statement that the first mill in Lynn was at the mouth 
of Strawberry Brook, is a mistake ; and Mr. Lewis was satisfied 
of it when the facts were laid before him. The first mill was 
on that brook, a few rods west of where Franklin street opens 
into Boston street. Some years ago there was a case in one 
of our courts, wherein the question of the location of the first 
mill in Lynn became of some importance. An examination of 
ancient documents and records established the fact as above 
stated. Astute counsel objected to any testimony from Mr. 
Lewis tending to show that it was located in any place but that 
stated in his book, on the ground that it would be a contra- 
diction of himself. After some wrangling, however, it was 
admitted, for the rules regarding the admission of evidence are 
not quite so bad as to deny one the privilege of correcting an 
undoubted error. The mill which he refers to as the first, was, 
without doubt, the third in Lynn, the second having been built 
near the Flax Pond and afterward removed to Water Hill. And 
this seems to have been the first manifestation of that propen- 
sity to move buildings which has characterised our people to 
this day. Every season we find our ways obstructed and trees 
dismembered by migratory edifices. For something further 
about the old mills, see under dates 1654 and 1655.] 

Timothy Tomlins, brother of Edward — was a farmer, and 
was admitted a freeman, 1633. He was representative in thir- 
teen sessions of the General Court. In 1640, he went with 
those who began a settlement at Southampton, on Long Island, 
but returned. A pine forest in the northern part of Lynn is 
well known by the name of Tomlins's Swamp. He was one of 
the first proprietors of Cambridge, but did not reside there. 

Nathaniel Turner, (Capt.) — lived in Nahant street, and 
owned the whole of Sagamore Hill. He applied to be admitted 
a freeman, 19 Oct. 1630, but did not take the oath until 3 July, 
1632. He was representative in the first seven sessions of the 
General Court, and a member of the first County Court at Salem, 
in 1636. In 1633, he was appointed captain of the militia, and 
in 1636 and '7 had a command in several expeditions against 
the Fequot Indians. In 1637 his house was burnt. In 1638, 
he became a member of the Ancient Artillery Company ; and 
the same year sold his land on Sagamore Hill to Mr. Edward 
Holyoke, and removed, with others, to Quilipeake, where a new 
settlement was begun, and called New Haven. His name is 
preserved in Turner's Falls. In 1639 he was one of the seven 
members of the first church at New Haven. In 1640 he pur- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 129 

chased for the town, of Ponus, the Indian Sagamore, the tract 
of land which is now the town of Stamford, for which he paid 
in " coats, shoes, hatchets, &c." His active and useful life was 
soon after terminated in a melancholy manner. In January, 
1647, he sailed for England, with Capt. Lamberton, in a vessel 
which was never heard of more. Governor Winthrop informs 
us that in June, 1648, the apparition of a ship was seen under 
full sail, moving up the harbor of New Haven, a little before 
sunset, in a pleasant afternoon, and that as it approached the 
shore, it slowly vanished. This was thought to have a refer- 
ence to the fate of Capt. Laraberton's ship. The following epi- 
taph was written to the memory of Capt. Turner. 

Deep in Atlantic cave his body sleeps, 
Wliile the dark sea its ceaseless motion keeps, 
While phantom ships are wrecked along the shore, 
To warn his friends that he will come no more ! 
But He who governs all with impulse free, 
Can bring from Bashan and the deepest sea, 
And when He calls our Turner must return, 
Though now his ashes fill no sacred urn. 

[In 1639, Capt. Turner, in connection with Rev. Mr. Daven- 
port and four others, at New Haven, was appointed to " have 
the disposing of all house lotts, yet undisposed of about this 
towne, to such persons as they shall judge meete for the good 
of the plantation ; and thatt none come to dwell as planters here 
without their consent and allowance, whether they come in by 
purchase or otherwise." In 1640, Capt. Turner, as agent for 
New Haven, made a large purchase of lands on both sides of the 
Delaware river — sufficient for a number of plantations. The 
purchase was made chiefly with a view to trade, though the 
establishment of Puritan churches was an object. Trading 
houses were erected, and nearly fifty families sent out. In all 
fundamental matters the Delaware colonies were to be under 
the jurisdiction of New Haven. In the same year he made the 
purchase of the Indian territory of Rippo warns — Stamford — 
as noted by Mr. Lewis, partly of Ponus and partly of Wascussue, 
another chief He gave for the whole, " twelve coats, twelve 
hoes, twelve hatchets, twelve knives, two kettles, and four 
fathom of white wampum." In a sale to the people of Wethers- 
field, a while after, the tract was valued at thirty pounds ster- 
ling. 

[In a list, made in 1643, giving the names of a hundred and 
twenty-two New Haven planters, with the number of their fam- 
ilies — including only parents and children — and the value of 
their estates, the family of Capt. Turner is put down at seven, 
and his estate at £800, the latter being as high as any on the 
list, with the exception of ten. 

[But the land speculations of New Haven do not seem to 

9 



130 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 

have turned out in any degree profitable. The Delaware trade 
Avas not successful ; and the Dutch were troublesome at Stam- 
ford. And she seems literally to have struck a vein of ill-fortune, 
in which she was destined to struggle for some time. It was 
under a desperate effort to retrieve her fortunes, that the planters 
sent to Rhode Island and had a ship of a hundred and fifty tons 
built, hoping to open a profitable foreign trade. By joining 
their means, the planters were able to freight hev in a satisfac- 
tory manner. Capt. Turner, with five others of the principal 
men embarked, and she sailed from New Haven in January, 
1647. Nothing was ever heard either of the vessel or any on 
board, unless the apparition which appeared in the harbor, the 
next June, immediately after a great thunder storm — the re- 
nowned phantom ship — be regarded as tidings. Capt. Turner, 
had kept alive his friendship for the people of Lynn, and while 
" New Haven's heart was sad," there were many here to mourn 
his fate.] 

Thomas Talmadge — was a farmer, and was admitted a free- 
man in 1634. He had a son Thomas. 

Richard Walker, (Capt.) — was a farmer, and resided on the 
west of Sangus river. He was born in 1593, and was admitted 
a freeman in 1634. He was buried 16 May, 1687, aged 95. He 
had two sons; Richard, born 1611, who came over in 1635, 
removed to Reading, and was several times chosen representa- 
tive ; and Samuel, who also removed to Reading. He likewise 
had two daughters ; Tabitha, who married Daniel King, March 
11, 1662; and Elizabeth, who married Ralph King, March 2, 
1663. 

John White — was a farmer, and was admitted a freeman in 
1633. [He removed to Southampton, L. I. ; there he became a 
man of property and reared a large family. He died in 1662.] 
Bray Wilkins — was a farmer, and lived on the western 
side of the Flax Pond. He was admitted a freeman in 1634, 
and removed to Danvers. [He was an inhabitant of Dorchester 
in 1641, and was then, or had been, keeper of Neponset ferry; 
was hack again in 1664, a farmer, and tenant on Gov. Belling- 
bam's farm, when his house was burned. He died 1 Jan. 1702, 
aged 91.] 

Thomas Willis — was a farmer, and the first resident on 
the hill on which the alms-house is situated. The land on the 
south was called Willis's Neck, and that on the north, Willis's 
Meadow. He was a representative in the first General Court 
in 1634, and a member of the Essex Court, in 1639. He became 
one of the first proprietors of Sandwich, in 1637, but did not 
remove at that time. 

William Witter — was a farmer and resided at Swampscot. 
He says, in a deposition in Salem Court files, 15 and 27 April, 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G30. 131 

1657, "Blacke will, or duke william, so called, came to my 
house, (which was two or three miles from Nahant,) when Tho- 
mas Dexter had bought Nahant for a suit of clothes ; the said 
Black will Asked me what I would give him for the Land mv 
house stood vppon, it being his land, and his ffather's wigwam 
stood their abouts, James Sagomore and John, and the Sago- 
more of Agawame, and diuers more. And George Sagomore, 
being a youth was present, all of them acknowlidginge Black 
will to be the Right owner of the Land my house stood on, and 
Sagomore Hill and Nahant was all his;" and adds that he 
" bought Nahant and Sagomer Hill and Swamscoate of Black 
William for two pestle stones." He died in 1659, aged 75 years. 
The name of his wife was Annis, and his children were Josiah, 
and Hannah, who married Robert Burdin. By his will, 6 Aug. 
1657, he gives his wife Annis half his estate, and Josiah the 
other half; and says, "Hannah shall have a yew and lamb this 
time twelf mounth." [This was the William Witter who sorely 
offended the authorities by entertaining Obadiah Holmes, John 
Crandall, and John Clarke, when they traveled hither from 
Rhode Island, and who was called to account for his opinions 
against infant baptism. '- It came to pa^s," says Clarke's narra- 
tive " that we three by the good hand of our God, came into 
the Mathatusets Bay upon the 16 day of the 5th Moneth 51 ; 
and upon the 19th of the same, upon occasion of businesse, we 
came into a Town in the same Bay called Lin, where we lodged 
at a Blind-man's house neer two miles out of the Town, by name 
William Witter, who being baptized into Christ waits, as we 
also doe, for the kingdom of God and the full consolation of the 
Israel of God." For something further concerning the visit 
of these notable travelers see under date 1651.] 

• Richard Wright, (Capt.) — was selected in 1632, to confer 
with the Governor about raising a public fund. He was admit- 
ted a freeman in 1634. He removed to Boston, where, in 1636, 
he contributed 6s. 8d. "towards the maintenance of a free 
school-master." (Boston Records.) 

The great body of fifty persons, with their families, who came 
to Lynn this year, settled in all parts of the town, selecting the 
most eligible portions, and each occupying from ten to two hun- 
dred acres, and some more. They were principally. farmers, and 
possessed a large stock of horned cattle, sheep and goats. For 
several years, before the land was divided, and the fields fenced, 
the cattle were fed in one drove, and guarded by a man, who, 
from his employment, was called a hayward. The sheep, goats, 
and swine were kept on Nahant, where they were tended by a 
shepherd. Nahant seems to have been sold several times, to 
different individuals, by " Black William," who also gave it to 
the plantation for a sheep pasture. A fence of rails, put near 



132 ANNALS OP LYNN— 1630. 

together, was made across the beach, near Nahant, to keep out 
the wolves, as those animals do not climb. When the people 
were about building this fence, Captain Turner said, " Let us 
make haste, lest the country should take it from us." (Deposi- 
tion in Salem Court Records, 22 April, 1657.) The people of 
Lynn, for many years, appear to have lived in the most perfect 
democracy. They had town meetings every three rnonths, for 
the regulation of their public affairs. They cut their wood in 
common, and drew lots for the grass in the meadows and 
marshes. These proved very serviceable to the farmers, by 
furnishing them with sustenance for their cattle ; which was 
probably the reason why there were more farmers at Lynn, 
than in any other of the early settlements. Mr. Johnson says, 
" The chiefest corn they planted, before they had plowes, was 
Indian grain — and let no man make a jest of Pumpkins, for 
with this food the Lord was pleased to feed his people to their 
good content, till Corne and Cattell were increased." Their 
corn at the first, was pounded, after the manner of the Indians, 
with a pestle of wood or stone, in a mortar made either of stone, 
or a log hollowed out at one end. They also cultivated large 
fields of barley and wheat. Much of the former was made into 
malt for beer. They raised considerable quantities of flax, 
which was rotted in one of the ponds, thence called the Flax 
Pond. Their first houses were rude structures, covered with 
thatch, or small bundles of sedge or straw, laid one over another. 
A common form of the early cottages, was eighteen feet square, 
and seven feet post, with the roof steep enough to form a sleep- 
ing chamber. The better houses were built with two stories in 
front, and sloped down to one in the rear; the upper story 
projecting about a foot, with very sharp gables. The frames 
were of heavy oak timber, shov*^ing the beams inside. Burnt 
clam shells were used for lime, and the walls were whitewashed. 
The fire-places were made of rough stones, and the chimneys 
of boards, or short sticks, crossing each other, and plastered 
inside with clay. The windows were small, opening outward 
on hinges. They consisted of very small diamond panes, set in 
sashes of lead. The fire-places were large enough to admit a 
four-foot log, and the children might sit in the corners and look 
up at the stars. People commonly burned about twenty cords 
of wood in a year, and the ministers were allowed thirty cords. 
On whichever side of the road the houses were placed, they 
uniformly faced the south, that the sun at noon might " shine 
square." Thus each house formed a domestic sun-dial, by which 
the good matron, in the absence of the clock, could tell, in fair 
weather, when to call her husband and sons from the field ; for 
the industrious people of Lynn, then as well as now, always 
dined exactly at twelve. [In this description of the ancient 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 133 

houses Mr. Lewi's has to some extent mixed the styles of differ- 
ent periods. On page 114 there is a brief description of a novel 
st3'Ie of habitation which prevailed in New England at the time 
of the early settlements.] It was the custom of the first settlers 
to wear long beards, and Governor Winthrop says, " Some had 
their overgrown beards so frozen together, that they could not 
get their strong water bottells to their mouths." In very hot 
weather, says AVood " servants were priviledged to rest from 
their labors, from ten of the clocke till two." The common 
address of men and women was Goodman and Goodwife ; none 
but those who sustained, some office of dignity, or w^ere descend- 
ed from some respectable family, were compHmented with the 
title of Master. [Was not the distinction, at first, based solely 
upon admission to the rights of freeman, or member of the 
Company ? But see further remarks on the point elsewhere in 
this volume.] In writing they seldom used a capital F ; and 
thus in the early records we find two small ones used instead ; 
and one m, with a dash over it, stood for two. [And so of some 
other letters. The act naming the town, passed in 1G37, stands 
thus : " Saugust is called Lin."] The following ballad, written 
about this time, exhibits some of the peculiar customs and modes 
of thinking among the early settlers : 

The place where we live is a wilderness wood, > 

Where grass is much Avanting that 's fi-uitful and good; 
Our mountains and liills, and our valleys below, 
Being commonly covered with ice and with snow. 

And when the northwest wind with violence blows, 
Then every man pulls his cap over his nose ; 
But if any is bardy, and will it withstand, 
He forfeits a fingei", a foot, or a hand. 

And when the spring opens, we then take the hoe, 
And make the ground ready to plant and to sow ; 
Our corn being planted, and seed being sown, 
The worms destroy much before it is grown — 

And while it is gi-owing, some spoil there is made 
By birds and by squirrels, that pluck up the blade ; 
And when it is come to full corn in the ear, 
It is often destroyed by racoon and by deer. 

And now our old garments begin to gi-ow thin, 
And wool is much wanted to card and to spin ; 
If we can get a garment to cover without, 
Oiu" other in garments are clout [patch] upon clout. 

Our clothes we brought with us are apt to be torn, 
They need to be clouted soon after they 're wora ; 
But clouting our garments they hmder us nothing, 
Clouts double are warmer than single whole clothing. 

L 



134 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1630. 

If fresh meat be wanting to fill up our dish, 

We have carrots and pumpkins, and turnips and fish; 

And if there 's a mind for a delicate dish, 

We haste to the clam banks and take what we wish. 

Stead of pottage and puddings and custards and pies, , 
Our turnijis and parsnips are common supplies ; 
We have pumpkins at morning, and pumpkins at noon, 
If it was not for pumpkins we should be undone. 

If barley be wanting to make into malt. 

We must then be contented and think it no fault ; 

For we can make liquor to sweeten our lips, 

Of pumpkins and parsnips and wahiut tree chips. 

Now while some are going let others be coming, 
For while liquor 's boilmg it must have a scummmg ; 
But I will not blame them, for birds of a feather, 
By seeking then- fellows, are flocking together. 

Then you whom the Lord intends hither to bring. 
Forsake not the honey for fear of the sting ; 
But bring both a quiet and contented mind, 
And all needful blessings you surely shall find. 

The General Court, for the first four years, consisted of the 
Governor, Deputy Governor, twelve Assistants, or magistrates, 
and all who had obtained the privileges of freemen. Instead, 
therefore, of sending representatives, the whole number of free- 
men attended the Court in person. An order was made, that 
no persons should be admitted to the privileges of freemen, but 
such as were members of some church, and had certificates from 
their ministers that their opinions were approved. This policy 
continued, till it was abrogated by an order from king Charles 
II., in 1662. 

Lynn was incorporated in 1630, by the admission of its free- 
men as members of the General Court. There were no acts 
of incorporation for several of the early towns. Boston, Salem, 
and Charlestown, were no otherwise incorporated, than by their 
freemen taking their seats in the General Court. They never 
paused to inquire if they were incorporated ; the very act of 
their being there was an incorporation. The freemen of Lynn 
were an important and respectable portion of the General Court, 
and Lynn was as much incorporated in 1630 as Boston was. 
The injustice which has been done to Lynn, by placing her 
incorporation seven years too late, should be corrected. 

The following order was passed by the General Court, for 
regulating the prices of labor. " It is ordered, that no master 
carpenter, mason, joiner, or bricklayer, shall take above 16d. a 
Day for their work, if they have meate and Drinke ; and the 
second sort not above 12d, a Day, under paj^ne of Xs. both to 
giver and receiver." This order probably occasioned some 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G30. 135 

dissatisfaction, as the Court, some months after, determined 
that wages should be left unlimited, " as men shall reasonably 
agree." 

[The evil effects of strong drink were felt in the very infancy 
of 'the plantations. As early as this year the Court found it 
expedient to pass the following summary order, which looks 
like a sort of special liquor law: ''It is ordered, that all Rich: 
Cloughes stronge water shall presently be seazed vpon, for his 
selling greate quantytie thereof to seual mens serv*s which was 
the ocacon of much disorder, drunkenes & misdemean''." A 
number of years subsequent to this, however, Rev. Mr. Firmin, 
rector at Shalford, who had been in several of the New England 
settlements and had practised physic at Boston, declared in a 
sermon before Parliament and the Westminster Assembly, that 
he had been seven years among the planters, and had " never 
heard one profane oath," and in " all that time never did see a 
a man drunk." These declarations have been quoted as those 
of Hugh Peters, but incorrectly. The seven years alluded to 
probably terminated in 1643. As Savage remarks, the decla- 
rations are better proof of the keeping of good company than 
of searching for examples. The frequent enactments regard- 
ing the sale of " stronge water,"' and the numerous instances 
of punishment awarded for drunkenness tell a very different 
story.] 

The Indians, having become acquainted with the use of guns, 
and having seen their superiority over bows and arrows, would 
give almost any amount in land, beaver skins, or Avampum, for 
them. This caused an apprehension of danger, and on the 28th 
of Sept. the Court ordered, that " noe person whatsoever shall, 
either directly or indirectly, imploy or cause to be emploj^ed, 
or to their power permit any Indian, to vse any peece vpon any 
occasion or pretence whatsoever, under pain of Xs. ffyne for 
the first ofience, and for the 2 offence to be ffyned and'impris- 
oned at the discretion of the Court." 

A company of militia was organized, of which Richard Wright 
was captain, Daniel Howe lieutenant, and Richard Walker en- 
sign. The officers were not chosen by the people, but appointed 
by the Governor. The company possessed two iron cannon, 
called " sakers, or great guns." 

There is a story that two of the early settlers went to Nahant 
for fowl, and separated. One of them killed a seal on Pond 
Beach, and leaving him, went after some birds. When he re- 
turned, he found a bear feeding on the seal. He fired at him a 
charge of shot, which caused him to fall, and then beat him with 
his six foot gun till it broke. The bear then stood up, wounded 
the man and tore his clothes ; but the man, extricating himself, 
ran into the pond, where he remained until his companion came 



136 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1631. 

and relieved him. They then returned to the town and informed 
the people, who went down in the evening and made a fire on 
the beach, which they kept burning through the night, to pre- 
vent the bear from coming off. In the morning they went to 
Nahfint and killed him. 

Much mischief was occasioned among the cattle, for many 
years, by the wolves, which, Wood says, used to travel in com- 
panies of "ten or twelve." On the 13th of Sept., says Win- 
throp, " the wolves killed some swine at Saugus." On the 9th 
of Nov., the Court ordered, that if any one killed a wolf, he 
should have one penny for each cow and horse, and one farthing 
for each sheep and swine in the plantation. Many pits were 
dug in the woods to entrap them, and some of them are yet to 
be seen. It is said that a woman, as she was rambling in the 
woods for berries, fell into one of these pits, from which she 
was unable to extricate herself In the evening, a wolf made 
her a very unceremonious visit, dropping down at her side, 
through the bushes with which the pit was covered. Finding 
himself entrapped, and being as much afraid of the woman as 
she was of him, he retired to the opposite corner of the pit ; 
and thus they remained through the night, ogling each other 
with any looks but those of an enamored couple. The next day 
the friends of the woman arrived at the pit, from which they 
took her without injury, and prevented any future visit from 
her rude and unwelcome intruder. [Wood remarks that a black 
calf was considered worth more than a red one, because the 
red, bearing greater resemblance to a deer, was more likely to 
become the victim of wolves.] 

16 3 1. 

In the early part of this year, provisions were very scarce, 
and many persons depended for subsistence upon clams, ground- 
nuts, and acorns. Wheat was sold for fourteen shillings, ($3.11) 
a bushel ; and Indian corn, brought from Virginia, for eleven 
shillings ($2.44). The price of cattle, for several years, contin- 
ued very high. A good cow was valued at twenty-five pounds, 
($111.11,) and a yoke of oxen at forty pounds ($177.77). 

On the third of February, the Court laid a tax of sixty pounds, 
to make a palisade or defense about Newtown, now Cambridge. 
The proportion of Saugus and Marble Harbour, or Lynn and 
Marblehead, was six pounds. 

On the 18th of February, a vessel owned by Mr, John Glover, 
of Dorchester, was wrecked on Nahant rocks ; but the crew 
were all saved. 

The Court, on the first of March, ordered, '• That if any per- 
son, within the Lymitts of this Patent, doe trade, trucke, or sell 
any money, either silver or golde, to any Indian, or any man 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G31. 137 

that knowe of any that shall soe doe, and conceal the same, 
shall forfeit twenty for one. Further it is ordered, that what- 
ever person hath received an Indian into their ffamilie as a 
servant, shall discharge themselves of them by the 1th of May 
next, and that noe person shall hereafter entertain any Indian 
for a servant without licence from the Court." 

Wonohaquaham and Montowampate, the sagamores of Wini- 
simet and Lynn, having been defrauded of twenty beaver skins, 
by a man in England, named Watts, went to Governor Winthrop, 
on 26 March, to solicit his assistance in recovering their value. 
The Governor entertained them kindly, and gave them a letter 
of introduction to Emanuel Downing, Esq., an eminent lawyer 
in London. Tradition says, that Montowampate went to Eng- 
land, where he was treated with much respect as an Indian king; 
but, disliking the English dehcacies, he hastened back to Sau- 
gus, to the enjoyment of his clams and succatash. 

At this time, there was no bridge across Saugus river, and 
people who traveled to Boston were compelled to pass through 
the woods in the northern part of the town, and ford the stream 
by the Iron Works, which were near the site of the present 
woolen factories, in Saugus Centre. The following extract from 
a letter written by Mr. Jolni Endicott, of Salem, to Gov. Win- 
throp, on the 12th of April, illustrates this custom. Mr. Endicott 
had just been married. He says : " Right Worshipful, I did 
hope to have been with you in person at the Court, and to that 
end I put to sea yesterday, and was driven back again, the wind 
being stiff against us; and there being no canoe or boat at Sau- 
gus, I must have been constrained to go to Mistic, and thence 
about to Charlestown ; which at this time I durst not be so bold, 
my body being at present in an ill condition to take cold, and 
therefore I pray you to pardon me." 

A quarrel had arisen, a short time previous, between Mr. En- 
dicott and Thomas Dexter, in which the Salem magistrate so 
far forgot his dignity as to strike Mr. Dexter, who complained 
to the Court at Boston. It was on this occasion that Mr. Endi- 
cott wrote the letter from which the preceding extract is made. 
He thus continues : " I desired the rather to have been at Court, 
because I hear I am much complained of by Goodman Dexter 
for striking him ; understanding since it is not lawful for a jus- 
tice of peace to strike. But if you had seen the manner of his 
carriage, with such daring of me, with his arms akimbo, it would 
have provoked a very patient man. He hath given out, if I had 
a purse he would make me empty it, and if he cannot have jus- 
tice here, he will do wonders in England ; and if he cannot 
prevail there, he will try it out with me here at blows. If it 
were lawful for me to try it at blows, and he a fit man for me 
to deal with, you should not hear me complain." The jury, to 
L* 



138 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1631. 

whom the case was referred, gave their verdict for Mr. Dexter, 
on the third of May, and gave damages ten pounds, ($44.44). 
[An error was made in cop3nng from the record, which stands 
thus : " The jury findes for the plaintifFe and cesses for dam- 
ages xls." ($8.88). It is evident that the second numeral and s, 
were mistaken for a pound mark, thus increasing the 40s. to lOZ.] 
Besides the evidence of the blow, Mr. Endicott manifests some- 
what of an irascible disposition in his letter; and Mr. Dexter 
was not a man to stand for nice points of etiquette on occasions 
of irritabihty. Some years afterward, having been insulted by 
Samuel Hutchinson, he met him one day on the road, and jump- 
ing from his horse, he bestowed " about twenty blows on his 
head and shoulders," to the no small danger and deray of his 
senses, as well as sensibihties. 

April 12. " It is ordered that every Captaine shall traine his 
companie on saterday in every weeke." 

May 18. "It is ordered that no person shall kill any wild 
swine, without a general agreement at some court." 

July 5, A tax of thirty pounds was laid for the purpose of 
opening a canal from Charles river to Cambridge. The requisi- 
tion on Lynn was for one pound. 

Masconomo, the sagamore of Agawam, or Ipswich, having 
committed some offence against the eastern Indians, the Court, 
on the fifth of July, passed an order, forbidding him to enter 
any Englishman's house within one year, under a penalty often 
beaver skins. The Taratines, also, undertook to avenge their 
own wrong. On the eighth of August, about one hundred of 
them landed from their canoes, at Ipswich, in the night, and 
killed seven of Masconomo's men, and wounded several more, 
some of whom died. They also wounded Wonohaquaham and 
Montowampate, who were on a visit to that place ; and carried 
away Wenuchus, the wife of Montowampate, a captive. She 
was detained by them about two months, and was restored on 
the intercession of Mr. Abraham Shurd of Pemaquid, who traded 
with the Indians. She returned on the 17th of September. 
For her release, the Taratines demanded a quantity of wampum 
and beaver skins. 

The people of Lynn were soon after alarmed by a report that 
the Taratines in,tended an attack on them, and appointed men 
each night to keep a watch. Once, about midnight. Ensign 
Richard Walker, who was on the guard, heard the bushes break 
near him, and felt an arrow pass through his coat and "buff 
waistcoat." As the night was dark he could see no one, but he 
discharged his gun, which, being heavily loaded, split in pieces. 
He then called the guard, and returned to the place, when he 
had another arrow shot through his clothes. Deeming it impru- 
dent to proceed in the dark against a concealed enemy, he 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1632. 139 

desisted from further search till morning. The people then 
assembled, and discharged their cannon into the woods ; after 
which, the Indians gave them no further molestation. 

Governor Winthrop, who passed through Lynn, 28 Oct., puts 
down in his journal, "A plentiful crop." 

Thus have we seen the town, which three years before was 
a wilderness of Indians, now occupied by cottages of white men, 
living in harmony with the natives ; clearing the forest, and 
cultivating the soil, and by the blessing of Providence, reaping 
a rich reward for their labors. The Indians had received them 
with kindness, and given them liberty to settle where they 
pleased ; but some years after, they made an agreement with 
the natives for the land. The deed has shared the fate of the 
lost records ; but one of the town treasurers told me that he 
had the deed in his possession about the year 1800, and that 
the compensation was sixteen pounds ten shillings — about 
seventy-three dollars. The people of Salem paid twenty pounds 
for the deed of their town. [The Indian deed of Lynn here 
referred to is no doubt the one which is copied on page 51, 
et seq., with introductory remarks.] 

1632. 

For the first three years, the people of Lynn had no minister, 
but some of them attended church at Salem, and others had 
meetings for prayer and exhortation. The Rev. Stephen Bach- 
ILER, with his family, arrived at Boston on Thursday, 5 June, 
after a tedious passage of eighty-eight days. He came in the 
ship William and Francis, Capt. Thomas, which sailed from Lon- 
don, 9 March. He immediately came to Lynn, where his daugh- 
ter Theodate, wife of Christopher Hussey resided. He was 
seventy-one years of age. In his company were six persons 
who had belonged to a church with him in England ; and of these 
he constituted a church at Lynn, to which he admitted such as 
desired to become members, and commenced the exercise of his 
public ministrations on Sunday, 8 June, without installation. 
He baptized four children, born before his arrival ; two of whom, 
Thomas Newhall and Stephen Hussey, were born the same 
week. Thomas, being the first white child born in Lynn, was 
first presented ; but Mr. Bachiler put him aside, saying, " I will 
baptize my own child first" — meaning his daughter's child. 

The church at Lynn was the fifth in Massachusetts. The first 
was gathered at Salem, 6 Aug., 1629 ; the second at Dorchester, 
in June, 1630 ; the third at Charlestown, 30 July, 1630, and re- 
moved to Boston; the fourth at Watertowu on the same day; 
and the fifth at Lynn, 8 June, 1632. The first meeting-house 
was a small plain building, without bell or cupola, and stood 
on the northeastern corner of Shepard and Summer streets. 



140 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1632. 

It was placed in a small hollow, that it might be better sheltered 
from the winds, and was partly sunk into the earth, being en- 
tered by descending several steps. 

In the General Court, 9 May, " A proposition was made by 
the people that every company of trained men might choose 
their own captain and officers ; but the Governor, giving them 
reasons to the contrary, they were satisfied without it." 

On the 14th of June, as Capt. Richard Wright was returning 
from the eastward, in a vessel, with about eight hundred dollars' 
worth of goods on board, one of the crew, when off Portsmouth, 
proceeded to light his pipe ; but was requested to desist, as 
there was a barrel of powder on board. He replied that he 
should " take one pipe if the devil carried him away." The 
boat and the man, says Winthrop, were presently blown to 
pieces ; but the rest of the crew, though some of them were 
drunk and asleep, escaped. 

Governor Winthrop, in his journal, 14 Aug. remarks : " This 
week they had, in barley and oats, at Sagus, about twenty acres 
good corn, and sown with the plough." 

On the 4th of September, Richard Hopkins, of Watertown, 
was arraigned for selling a gun and pistol, with powder and 
shot, to Montowampate, the Lynn sagamore. The sentence of 
the Court was that he should '^ be severely whippt, and branded 
with a hot iron on one of his cheekes." One of the Saugus 
Indians gave the information, on promise of concealment, for his 
discovery would have exposed him to the resentment of his tribe. 

Capt. Nathaniel Turner Avas chosen, by the General Court, 
" constable of Saugus for this year, and till a new be chosen." 

[The Court order that Sarah Morley be " putt as an appren- 
tice to M'^ Nathaniel Turner, of Saugus, for the space of nyne 
yeares, from this Court, for w*^^ tearme he is to finde her meate, 
drinke & clothing."] 

In consequence of a suspicion that the Indians were conspir- 
ing the destruction of the whites, the neighboring sagamores 
were called before the Governor on the 14th of September. 
The readiness with which they appeared, evinced their friendly 
disposition. 

Mr. Bachiler had been in the performance of his pastoral 
duties about four months, when a complaint was made of some 
irregularities in his conduct. He was arraigned before the 
Court at Boston, on the 3d of October, when the following 
order was passed : " Mr. Bachiler is required to forbeare exer- 
cising his giftes as a pastor or teacher publiquely in our Pattent, 
unlesse it be to those he brought with him, for his contempt 
of authority, and until some scandles be removed." This was 
the commencement of a series of difficulties which agitated the 
unhappy church for several years. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1633. 141 

October 3. " It is ordered, that Saugus plantation shall have 
liberty to build a ware upon Saugus Ryver also they have prom- 
ised to make and continually to keepe a goode foote bridge, 
upon the most convenient place there." This wear was chiefly 
built by Thomas Dexter, for the purpose of taking bass and 
alewives, of which many were dried and smoked for shipping. 
It crossed the river near the Iron Works. The bridge was only 
a rude structure of timber and rails. 

" It is further ordered, that no person shall take any tobacco 
publiquely, under pain of punishment ; also that every one shall 
pay one penny for every time he is convicted of taking tobacco 
in any place." 

On the second of November, a vessel, commanded by Captain 
Pierce, and loaded with fish, of Avhich Mr. John Humfrey was 
part owner, was wrecked off Cape Charles, and twelve men 
drowned. 

November 7. "It is ordered that the Captaines shall train 
their companyes but once a monethe." 

" It is referred to Mr. Turner, Peter Palfrey, and Roger Co- 
nant, to sett out a proportion of land in Saugus for John Hum- 
frey, Esqr." Tliis land was laid out at Swampscot. Mr. Turner 
was also one of the committee to settle a difference respecting 
the boundary line between Cambridge and Charlestown. 

In the month of December, a servant girl, in the family of the 
Rev. Samuel Skelton, of Salem, coming to see her friends at 
Lynn, lost her way, and wandered seven days. Mr. Winthrop 
says, " All that time she was in the woods, having no kind of 
food, the snow being very deep, and as cold as at any time that 
winter. She was so frozen into the snow some mornings, as 
she was one hour before she could get up." Mr. Wood says, 
" The snow being on the ground at first, she might have trackt 
her own footsteps back again; but wanting that understanding, 
she wandered, till God, by his speciall Providence brought her 
backe to the place she went from, wdiere she lives to this day." 

16 3 3. 

In the month of January, this year, Poquanum, the sagamore 
of Nahant.was unfortunately killed. Several vessels having 
been to the eastward in search of some pirates, stopped on their 
return at Richmond's Isle, near Portland, where they found 
" Black William," whom they hanged in revenge for the murder 
of Walter Bagnall, who had been killed by the Indians, on the 
3d of October, 1631. Mr. Winthrop says that Bagnall "was a 
wicked fellow, and had much wronged the Indians." It is not 
certain that Poquanum had any concern in his death ; on the 
contrary, Governor Winthrop tells us that he was killed by 
" Squidraysett and his Indians." Thus terminated the existence 



142 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G33. 

of a chief who had welcomed the white men, and bestowed ben. 
efits on them. 

In the course of a few months, Mr. Bachiler had so far suc- 
ceeded in regaining the esteem of the people, that the Court, on 
the 4th of March, removed their injunction that he should not 
preach in the colony, and left him at liberty to resume the per- 
formance of his public services. 

At the same Court, Mr. Thomas Dexter was ordered to "be 
set in the bilbowes, disfranchised, and fined XX for speaking 
reproachful and seditious words against the government here 
established." The bilbows were a kind of stocks, like those in 
which the hands and feet of poor Hudibras were confined. 

" The Knight 



And brave squh'e from their steeds alight, 
At the outer wall, near which there stands 
A Bastile, made to imprison hands. 
By strange enchantment made to fetter 
The lesser parts, and free the greater." 

[Another error in transcribing occurred here. The fine of 
Mr. Dexter was forty pounds instead of ten ; a fact which goes 
still further to show that the offence was regarded as of great 
enormity, and that fractious people some times found the luxur}'" 
of railing at the government an expensive one. At this blessed 
day of liberty things are different. The fine of Mr. Dexter was 
not promptly paid, however. And some years afterward, to 
wit, in 1638, the larger part was remitted, the record standing 
thus: "4 M^'ch, Thom: Dexter being fined 40Z. there was 30L 
of it remited him." (Col. Recs.)] 

One of those elegant and commodious appendages of the 
law — the bilbows — was placed near the meeting-house; where 
it stood the terror and punishment of all such evil doers as 
spoke against the government, chewed tobacco, or went to 
sleep in a sermon two hours long. However censurable Mr. 
Dexter may have been, his punishment was certainly dispro- 
portioned to his fault. To be deprived of the privileges of a 
freeman, to be exposed to the ignominy of the stocks, and to be 
amerced in a fine of more than forty dollars, [40Z.] show that 
the magistrates Avere greatly incensed by his remarks. If every 
man were to be set in the bilbows, who speaks against govern- 
ment, in these days, there would scarcelj'' be trees enough in 
Lynn woods to make stocks of The magistrates of those days 
had not acquired the lesson, which their successors have long 
since learned, that censure is the tax which public men must 
pay for their adventitious greatness. [But so ravenously fond 
are most people of position, that they are ready enough to pay 
the tax for the enjoyment of the privilege.] 

On the fourth of March, Mr. Nathaniel Turner was chosen 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1633. 143 

by the General Court, " Captaine of the military company att 
Saugus." 

Captain Turner gave ten pounds " towards the sea fort," built 
for the defense of Boston harbor. Capt. Richard Wright gave 
" 400 feet 4 inch planke," for the same purpose. 

Mr. Edward Howe was fined twenty shillings, " for selling 
stronge waters, contrary to order of Court." 

[The nineteenth of June was " appoyncted to be kept as a day 
of publique thanksgiueing throughout the seval plantacons."] 

At a town meeting on the twelfth of July, the inhabitants 
,made a grant to Mr. Edward Tomlins, of a privilege to build a 
:'corn mill, at the mouth of the stream which flows from the Flax 
pond, where Chase's mill now stands. This was the second 
mill in the colony, the first having been built at Dorchester, the 
same year. [For the correction of an error as to the location 
of the first mill in Lynn, see page 128,] At this time, the pond 
next above the Flax pond was partly a meadow ; and some 
years after a dam was built and the pond raised by Edward 
Tomlins, from whom it was called Tomlins's pond. In reference 
to this mill, we find the following testimonies, given 3 June, 
1678, in the Essex Registry of Deeds. 

" I, George Keaser, Aged about 60 yeare, doe testifie, that being at a Towiie 
meetinge in Liuue meeting house many yeares agoe, mr. Edward Tomlins 
made complaint then to the Towue of Linne, that there was not water enough 
in the great pond next to the Towne of Linne to serve the mill to grind theu-e 
gi-ist in the sumer time, and he desired leave of the To^vne to make a dam in 
the upper pond to keep a head of water against the height of sumer time, that 
soe he might have a suply of water to Grind their Grist in the drought of sum- 
er. And the Towne of linne granted him his request, that he would make a 
dam there, where the old ti'ees lay for a bridge for all people to goe over, 
insteed of a bridg." 

" This I, Clement Coldam, aged about 55 years, doe testifie, that the gi'ant 
of the old mill was in July ye 12, 1633, to Edward Tomlins, which was the 
second mill in this colony ; and after the To\vne saw that the mill could not 
supply the Towne, they gave leave to build an overshoot mill upon the same 
water; with a sluice called by the name of the old since, being made by Mr. 
Howell, the second owner of the mill ; and then Mr. Howell did sell the same 
mill to Jolm Eklerkin ; and John Elderkin did sell it to mr. Bennet, and mr. 
IJeunet did sell it to Goodman Wheeler, and Goodman Wheeler sould it to 
John Ballard, and John Ballard sold it to Henry Rhodes. And this I testifie 
that the water to supply the mill with, Avas granted to the mill, before any 
Meddow in the Towne was granted to any man, wee mowing all comon then. 
And this I testifie, that I kept the key of the old since for mr. South, which is 
since about 27 or 28 yeares agoe." 

Edward Richards testified that Mr. Tomlins '' was not to stop 
or hinder the alewives to go up to the great pond." 

The following description of ancient Saugus and Nahant is 
extracted from " New Englands Prospect," written this year 
by William Wood of Lynn, and which he says was undertaken, 
" because there hath been many scandalous and false reports 



144 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1633. 

past upon the country, even from the sulphurous breath of every 
base ballad monger." 

" The next plantation is Saugus, sixe miles northeast from Winnesimet. 
This Towne is pleasant for situation, seated in the bottom of a Bay, which is 
made on one side with the surrounding shore, and on the other with a long, 
sandy Beach. This sandy beach is two miles long at the end, whereon is a 
necke of land called Nahant. It is sixe miles in circumference, well wooded 
with Oakes, Pines and Cedars. It is beside, well watered, having beside the 
fresh Springs, a great Pond in the middle, before which is a spacious Marsh. 
In this necke is store of good ground, fit for the Plow; but for the present it 
is only used for to put young Cattle in, and weather Goates, and Swine, to 
secure them from the Woolues ; a few posts and rayles, from the low water 
markes to the shore, keepes out the Woolves, and keepes in the Cattle. One 
Blacke William, an Indian Duke, out of his generosity, gave this place in gen- 
eral! to this plantation of Saugus, so that no other can appropriate it to 
himselfe. 

" Vpon the South side of the Sandy Beach, the Sea beateth, which is a 
true prognostication to presage stormes and foide weather, and the breaking 
up of the Frost. For when a storme hath been, or is likely to be, it will roare 
like Thunder, being heard sixe miles ; and after stormes casts up gi-eat stores 
of great Clammes, which the Indians, taking out of their shels, carry home in 
baskets. On the North side of this Bay is two great Marshes, which are made 
two by a pleasant River, which runnes between them. Northward up this 
river goes gi-eat store of Alewives, of which they make good Red Herrings; 
insomuch that they have been at charges to make tftem a wayre, and a Her- 
ring house to dry these Herrings in ; the last year were dried soine 4 or 5 
Last [150 barrels] for an experiment, which proved veiy good; this is like to 
prove a great inrichment to the land, being a staple cominodity in other Coun- 
tries, for there be such innumerable companies in every river, that I have 
seen ten thousand taken in two houres, by two men, without any weire at all 
saving a few stoues to stop their passage up the river. There likewise come 
store of Basse, wliich the English and Indians catch with hooke and line, some 
fifty or three score at a tide. At the moutli of this river runnes up a great 
Creeke into that great Marsh, which is- called Rumney Marsh, which is 4 miles 
long, and 2 miles broad, halfe of it being Marsh ground, and halfe upland 
grasse, without tree or bush; this Marsh is crossed with divers creekes, wherein 
lye great store of Geese and Duckes. There be convenient Ponds, for the 

Slanting of Duck coyes. Here is likewise belonging to this place, divers fresh 
leddowes, which aflford good gi-asse ; and foure spacious Ponds, like little 
Lakes, wherein is good store of fresh Fish, within a mile of the Towne ; out 
of which runnes a curious fresh Broocke, that is seldom frozen, by reason of the 
warmnesse of the water; upon this stream is built a water Milne, and up this 
river come Smelts and frost fish, much bigger than a Gudgeon. For wood 
there is no want, there being store of good Oakes, Wallnut, Cedar, Aspe, 
Elme. The ground is very good, in many places without trees, and fit for 
the plough. In this place is more English tillage than in all New England 
and Virginia besides ; which proved as well as could be expected; the corn 
being very good, especially the Barley, Rye and Oates. 

" The land affordeth to the inhabitants as many varieties as any place else, 
and the sea more; the Basse continuing from the middle of April to Michael- 
mas [Sept. 29,] which stayes not half that time in the Bay [Boston Harbor ;] 
besides, here is a great deal of Rock cod and Macrill, insomuch that shoales 
of Bass have driven up shoales of Macrill, from one end of the sandy Beach to 
the other; which the inhabitants have gathered up in wheelbarrows. The 
Bay which lyeth before the Towne, at a lowe spring tyde will be all flatts for 
two miles together ; upon which is great store of Muscle Banckes, and Clam 
bauckes, and Lobsters amongst the rockes and grassie holes. These flatta 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G33. 145 

f 

make it unnaviirable for sliippcs ; yet at high water, great Boates, Loiters, 
[lighters] and Pinnaces of 20 and 30 tun, may saile up to the plantation ; but 
they neede liave a slvilful Pilote, because of many dangerous rockes and foam- 
ing breakers, that lye at the mouth of that Bay. TJie very aspect of tlie place 
is fortification enough to keepe of an miJcnowne enemie ; yet it may be fortified 
at little charge, being but few lauding places thereabout, and those obscure." 

Of the health of L3'nn, Mr.. Wood remarks : " Out of that 
Towne, from whence I came, in tliree years and a half, there 
died but three ; to make good which losses, I have scene foure 
children Baptized at one time." Prefixed to his book is the 
following address, written by some one in England, who signs 
himself S. W. [Can the S. W. mean Samuel Whiting, the emi- 
nent divine, who came over in 1636, and soon settled as minis- 
ter of the church at Lynn — a man famed for his pietj^, learning, 
and affability? It is possible that Mr. Wood's book induced his 
emigration ; and if so, it was the occasion of great good to the 
infant plantation. The Puritan clergy were much prone to 
bestow their encomiums in numbers, after this style.] 

Thanks to thy travel and thyself, who hast 
Much knowledge in so small room comptly placed, 
And thine experience thus a mound dost make. 
From whence we may New England's prospect take, 
Though many thousands distant ; therefore thou 
Thyself shall sit upon mount praise her brow. 
For if the man who shall the short cut find 
Unto the Indies, shall for that be shrined. 
Sure thou desen^est then no small praise who 
So short cut to New England here dost shew ; 
And if than this small thanks thou get'st no more 
Of thanks, I then will say, the world 's growu poor. 

The " cui'ious fresh broocke " which Mr. Wood notices, is 
Strawberr}' brook, which is kept warm by the numerous springs 
beneath the pond in wdiich it originates, and by its constant 
flowing for the supply of several mills. Mr. Robert Mansfield, 
who lived near its source, told me that he had never seen it 
frozen for more than seventy years. 

A tax, made by the General Court, on the first of October, 
will show the relative wealth of the several towns. The ap- 
portionment was, to Dorchester, 80 pounds ; to Boston, Charles- 
town, Cambridge, Watertown, and Roxbury, each, 48 pounds; 
Lynn, 36; Salem, 28. At several assessments, Lynn was in 
advance of Salem. 

Such great quantities of corn having been used for fattening 
swine, as to occasion a scarcity, the Court ordered, on the fifth 
of November, " That no man shall give his swine any corn, but 
such as, being viewed by two or three neighbors, shall be judged 
unfit for man's meat ; and every plantation may agree how many 
swine every person may keep." 

The Court ordered, that every man, in each plantation, 
M 10 



146 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1634. 

excepting magistrates and ministers, should pay for three days' 
work, at one shilling and sixpence each, for completing the Fort 
in Boston harbor. 

The ministers of Lynn and the western towns were in the 
practice of meeting at each other's houses, once in two weeks, 
to discuss important questions. The ministers of Salem were 
averse to the practice, fearing it might eventuate in the estab- 
lishment of a presbytery. 

On the 4th of December, corresponding with the 15th of new 
style, the snow was " knee deep," and the rivers frozen. 

The year 1633 was rendered memorable by the death of the 
three Indian sagamores. In January, Poquanum M^as murdered ; 
and in December, Wonohaquaham and Montowampate died. 
Governor Winthrop, in his journal, says : 

" December 5. John Sagamore died of the small pox, and almost all his 
people ; above thirty buried by Mr. ]Maverick of Winuesemett in one day. 
The towns in the bay took away many of the children ; but most of them died 
soon after. 

" James Sagamore of Sagus died also and most of his folks. John Saga- 
more desired to be brought among the English ; so he was ; and promised, 
if he recovered, to live with the English and sei-ve their God. He left one 
son, W'hich he disposed to Mr. Wilson, the pastor of Boston, to be brought up 
by him. He gave to the governor a good quantity of wampompeague, and to 
divers others of the English he gave gifts ; and took order for the payment 
of his own debts and his men's. He died in a persuasion that he'should go to 
the Englishmen's God. Divers of them, in their sickness, confessed that the 
Englishmen's God Avas a good God, and that if they recovered they would 
sei've him. It wrought much with them, that when tlieir o\vn people forsook 
them, yet the English came daily and ministered to them ; and yet feAv, only 
two families, took any infection by it. Amongst others Mr. Maverick, of Win- 
nesemett, is worthy of a perpetual remembrance. Himself, his wife and sei-v- 
ants, went daily to them, ministered to their necessities, and buried their dead, 
and took home many of their children. So did other of the neighbors." 

After the death of his brothers, Wenepoykin became sagamore 
of the remaining Indians in this region. 

1634. 

The inconvenience of having the Legislature composed of the 
whole number of freemen, and the danger of leaving the planta- 
tions exposed to the attacks of the Indians, induced the people 
to form a House of Representatives, who first .assembled on the 
14th of Ma3\ Eight towns were represented, each of ^vhich 
sent three representatives — Boston, Charlestown, Roxbury, 
Dorchester, Cambridge, Watertown, Lynn, and Salem. The 
representatives from Lynn, were Captain Nathaniel Turner, 
Edward Tomlins, and Thomas Willis. The General Court this 
year consisted of the Governor, Deputy Governor, six Assist- 
ants, and twenty-four Representatives. This number was not 
much increased for many years ; each town sending fewer, 
rather than more representatives. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1634. 147 

Hon. John Humfrey, with his wife, the Lady Susan, a daugh- 
ter of the Earl of Lincohi, arrived in July. He brought with 
hira a valuable present from Mr. Richard Andrews, an alderman 
of London, consisting of fifteen heifers, at this time valued at 
more than eighty dollars each. One of them was designed for 
each of the eight ministers, and the remainder were for the 
poor. He went to reside on his farm at Swampscot, which had 
been laid out by order of the Court. It consisted of five hun- 
dred acres, " between Forest river and the cliff." The bounds 
extended "a mile from the seaside," and ran "to a great white 
oak by the rock," including " a spring south of the oak." The 
spring is on Mr. Stetson's farm, [and the '' old oak" stood about 
a furlong north of the spring. It was standing when the first 
edition of the History of Lynn appeared, and Mr. Lewis pleaded 
for it in these pathetic strains : 

O spare the tree, whose dewy tears 
Have fallen for a thousand years ! 
Beneath whose shade, in days of old. 
The careful shepherd watched his fold ; 
On whose green top the eagle sate, 
To watch the fish-hawk's watery weight ; 
And oft in moonlight by whose side, 
\ The Indian wooed his dusky bride ! 

It speaks to man of early time, 
Before the earth was stained with crime, 
Ere cannon waked the peaceful plains, 
When silence ruled her vast domains, 
O, as you love the bold and free. 
Spare, woodman, 'spare the old oak tree! 

[In his second edition, the old oak having disappeared, Mr. 
Lewis tartly exclaims : " But, alas ! the old oak, the last of the 
ancient forest of Lynn, has been cut down. Some people have 
no sentiment." 

[But it seems beyond dispute that Mr. Lewis was wrong in 
locating Mr. Humfrey in what is now Swampscot. He owned 
an extensive tract of land there, but resided, I am satisfied, on 
the east side of Nahant street, having, in that vicinity, quite an 
extensive farm, his windmilljbeing on Sagamore Hill. See p. 201. 

[Timothy Tomlins was appointed overseer of the '' powder 
and shott. and all other amunicon," in the Saugus plantation.] 

On the 3d of September, the Court ordered, •' That Mr. Ed- 
ward Tomlins, or any other put in his place, by the Commis- 
sioners of War, with the help of an assistant, shall have power 
to presse men and carts, for ordinary wages, to helpe towards 
makeing of such carriages and wheeles as are wanting for the 
ordinances." 

On training day. Captain Turner, by the direction of Colonel 
Humfrey, went Avith his company to Nahant, to hunt the wolves. 
This was very pleasant amusement for training day. 



l48 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1635. 

16 3 5. 

Though an agreement had been made by Thomas Dexter with 
the Indian chief, for the proprietorship of Nahant, yet the town 
evidently regarded it as their property ; as will appear by the 
following extracts from the Town Records, preserved in the 
files of the General Court: 

January 11. "It is also voted by the freemen of the towne, that these men 
underwritten shall have liberty to plant and build at Nahant, and shall possess 
each man land for the said ]nni)ose, ard proceeding in tlie trade of fishing. 
Mr. Ilumfreys, Daniel How, Mr. Ballard, Joseph Rednap, Timotl)y Tomlins, 
Richard Walker, Thomas Talmage, Henry Feakes, Francis Dent." 

January 18. "It is ordered by the freemen of the towne, that all such per- 
sons as are assigned any land at Nahant, to further the trade of making fish, 
That if they do notf)roceed accordingly to forward the said trade, but either 
'doe grow remiss, or else doe give it quite over, that then all such lotts shall 
be forfeited again to the towne, to dispose of as shall be thought fitte." 

The dissensions which had commenced in Mr. Bachiler's 
church at an early period, began again to assume a formidable 
appearance. Some of the members, disliking the conduct of 
the pastor, and ^' withal making a question Avhether they were 
a church or not," withdrew from the communion. Mr. Bachiler 
requested them to present their grievances in writing, but as 
they refused to do that, he gave information that he should 
proceed to excommuncate them. In consequence of this, a 
council of ministers was held on the 15th of March. After a 
deliberation of three days, they decided, that although the 
church had not been properly instituted, yet the mntual exer- 
cise of their religious duties had supplied the defect. 

The difficulties in the self-constituted church, however, did 
not cease with the decision of the council, but continued to 
increase, until Mr. Bachiler, perceiving no prospect of their 
termination, requested a dismission for himself and his first 
members, which was granted. 

The celebrated Hugh Peters, who had just arrived in America, 

was next employed to preach, and the people requested him to 

become their minister ; but he preferred to exercise the duties 

of that office at Salem. Be was a very enterprising man, but 

seems to have been much better adapted for a politician than a 

minister. He was a great favorite of Johnson, the Woburn 

poet, who thus alludes to his preaching, and to the difficulties 

at L3'nn : 

"Willi courage Peters, a soldier stout. 

In wilderness (or Clirist begins to war; 
Much work lie finds 'luongst |»eo|)l(; yet hold out; 
With Ihient tongue he stops |ihantastic jar." 

He returned to England in 1G41, and unhappily became in- 
volved in the ambitious designs of Cromwell — preached the 
funeral sermon over the ''gray discrowned head" of the unfor- 



♦ ANNALS OP LYNN — 1635. 149 

tunate Charles the First — and was executed* for treason, on the 
16th of October, 1660. [It is stated in the European Magazine, 
September, 1794, that while the monarch was being conveyed 
from Windsor to Whitehall, Peters rode before him, crying out, 
every few minutes, " We '11 whisk him ! we '11 whisk him', now 
we have him ! Were there not a man in England besides him- 
self, he should die the death of a traitor ! "] Peters left " A 
Father's Legacy to an Only Child ; " written in the tower of Lon- 
don, and addressed, ''For Elizabeth Peters, my dear Child." 
He says, '' I was the son of considerable parents from Foy, in 
Cornwall. I am heartily sorry I was ever popular, and known 
better to others than to myself And if I go shortly where 
time shall be no more, where cock nor clock distinguish hours, 
sink not, but lay thy head in his bosom who can keep thee, for 
he sits upon the waves. Farewell." 

" I wish thee neither poverty nor riches, 

But godliness, so gainful, with content ; 
No painful pomp, nor glory that bewitches, 
A blameless life is the iDest monument ! " 

[The sentence of Peters was, that he«t)e carried back to prison, 
thence be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, there 
hung by the neck, be cut down while alive, have his entrails 
taken out and burned before his eyes, his head cut off, his body 
quartered, and thus divided be disposed of at the royal pleasure. 
His head was set on London Bridge.] 

It was the custom in those early days to have an hourglass in 
the pulpit, by which the minister timed his sermons. A painter 
of that day made a picture in which he represented Mr. Peters 
turning an hourglass and saying, *' I know you are good fel- 
lows ; stay and take another glass ! " [But the picture was by 
an English painter, and intended for ridicule.] 

The standard borne at this time was a red cross in a white 
field. This emblem was not congenial to the feelings of Mr. 
Endicott, and he ordered it to be cut out from the banner at 
Salem. This occasioned much dissatisfaction among the people, 
and a committee from each town was appointed, in May, to 
consider of the offence. They judged it to be " great, rash, 
and without discretion," and disqualified him, for one year, 
from bearing any public ofiice. 

May 6. " There is 500 acres of land, and a freshe Pond, with 
ia little Island, conteyning about two acres, granted to John 
Humfrey, Esqr.,Jying between north and west of Saugus ; pro- 
vided ho take no part of the 500 acres within five miles of any 
Town now planted. Also, it is agreed that the inhabitants of 
Saugus and Salem, shall have liberty to build store howses upon 
the said Island, and to lay in such provisions as they shall judge 
necessary for their use in tyme of neede." The land thus laid 
M* 



150 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1635.» 

out was around Humfroy's Pond, in Lynnfield, and was nearly 
one mile in extent. 

A fearful storm occurred on 16 August. It is thus spoken 
of: " None now living in these parts, either English or Indian 
had ever seen the like. It began in the morning, a little before 
day, and grew, not by degrees, but came with great violence in 
the beginning, to the great amazement of many. It blew down 
many houses, and uncovered divers others. It caused the sea 
to swell in some places, to the southward of Plymouth, as that 
it rose to twenty feet right up and down, and made many of the 
Indians to climb into trees for their safety. It threw do^yn all 
the corn to the ground, which never rose more. It blew down 
many hundred thousand of trees." A vessel was wrecked near 
Thacher's Island, and twenty-one persons lost. Mr. Anthony 
Thacher and his wife, ancestors of Rev. Thomas Gushing Thach- 
er, afterward minister of Lynn, were the only persons saved. 
[And in September a severe hurricane took place, the wind 
being first at the northeast, and then veering to another quarter. 
It produced " two tydes in six howres."] 

This year brass farthings were prohibited, and musket bullets 
were ordered to pass for farthings. 

Many new inhabitants appear at Lynn about this time, whose 
names it will be well to preserve. 

Abraham Belknap — had two sons, Abraham and Jeremy; 
and from him descended Dr. Jeremy Belknap, the historian of 
New Hampshire. 

James Boutwell — a farmer — freeman in 1638, died in 1651. 
His wife was Alice, and his children, Samuel, Sarah, and John. 

Edmund Beidges — came over in July, 1635, and died in 1686, 
aged 74. The name of his wife was Mary, and he had sons 
John and Josiah. He was the second shoemaker in Lynn. 
[He appears to have been a blacksmith, not a shoemaker, unless 
the shoemakers of those days were expected to shoe horses as 
well as men. Possibly, however, he may have filled a double 
calling. In May, 1647, the Court ordered that " Edm° Bridges 
for his neglect in shooing M' Symonds horse, (when he was to 
come to Co'"te,) should be required by warrant from this Co^'te 
to answere this complaint, & his neglect to furth'^ publike ser- 
vice, at y® next County Co''te for y' sheire to heare & determine 
y"^ case, & y* returne be made to y® Gen^'all Co''te of y" issue 
thereof" Mr. Bridges came over at the age of 23, in the James, 
from London. He had three wives. The first was named Alice, 
the second Elizabeth, and the third Mar3\ And he had eight 
children. His son Hachaliah was lost at sea, in or about 1671.] 

Edward Burcham — a freeman in 1638, clerk of the writs, in 
f645. In 1656 he returned to England. [But he came back, 
as may be inferred from the following from the Court records, 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G35. 151 

11 Oct. 1G82. "In ans' to the petition of Wm. Hawkins, it ap- 
pearing that Edward Bircham, late of Lynn, deceased, had a 
tract of land granted him by the toun of Lynn, to the quantity 
of thirty acres which doth not appeare to be lajd out in any 
other part of the toune bounds, this Court doth order, that 
Capt. Richard Walker, Capt. Elisha Hutchinson, and M^ Andrew 
Mansfeild, be requested, and are by this Court impowred, to 
make further inquiry into sajd matter and to cause the tract 
of land mentioned in the petition to be measured by a surveyor 
of lands, and to make report thereof at the next General Court." 
Mr. Burcham had a daughter Frances, who married Isaac Willey, 
8 June, 1660.] 

George Burt — came to Lynn in 1635, and died 2 Nov. 1661. 
He was a farmer, and the value of his estate was X144.4.9. He 
had three sons ; George, who went to Sandwich, in 1637 ; Hugh, 
born in 1591 ; and Edward, who removed to Charlestown. [In 
1652, the Court granted to Edward a patent "to make salte, 
after his manner," for ten years, on condition that he followed 
the employment; and desired of the people of Gloucester that 
he might " set doune his saltworke at the very cape, where 
there is both wood and water fitting for that worke." 

Henry Collins — was a starch maker, and lived in Esssex 
street. He embarked in the Abigail, of London, 30 June, 1635. 
In 1639 he was a member of the Salem Court. He was born 
in 1606, and was buried 20 Feb. 1687, at the age of 81. His 
wife Ann was born in 1605. His children were, Henry, born 
1630; John, b. 1632; Margery, b. 1633; and Joseph, b. 1635, 
and his descendants remain. [I think this settler must have 
been the same individual who is by some genealogists called 
Henry Colesworthy. The son John was lost by shipwreck, in 
1679. His wife Abigail survived him, and to her administration 
was granted in June, 1680. His estate was valued at £365 Is. 
6d. He left twelve children, several of whom were quite young. 
A son Samuel, had "a good trade of a gunsmith."] 

John Cooper — embarked in the Hopewell, of London, April 
1, 1635. He was born at Oney, in Buckinghamshire, in 1594. 
[He was one of the eight original undertakers in the Long 
Island settlement.] 

Tbiothy Cooper — was a farmer, and died in March, 1659. 
His children were, Mary, Hannah, John, Timothy, Dorcas, and 
Rebecca. 

Jenkin Davis — was a j.oiner, made a freeman in 1637 and 
died in 1661. His wife was named Sarah, and he had a son 
John. [This Jenkin Davis was too vicious a person to be 
allowed a place in such honest company. Mr. Lewis was rather 
inclined to veil the dark features in the characters of the set- 
tlers; a propensity which, though generous toward rogues might 



152 ANNALS OF LYNN^IGSS. 

not always prove just to others. Mr. Hnmfrey Lad employed and 
befriended Davis, in various ways, and had such confidence in 
him that when he went to the West Indies he placed his little 
daughters at board in his family. How his confidence was met 
may^ be gathered from the following, which appears on the 
Colony Records, 14 June, 1G42: " Jenkin Davies, for his abuse- 
ing the forenamed Dorcas" — Mr. Humfrey's daughter, then 
only nine years old — "was ordered to be severely whiped at 
Boston on a lecture day, and shalbee returned to. prison till 
hee may bee sent to Linne, and there to be seuerely whiped 
also & from thencefourth shalbee confined to the said towne 
of Linne, so as if hee shall at any time go fourth of the bounds 
of the said towne, (w^'^out licence of this Con,) & shalbee duly 
convict thereof, he shalbee put to death ; & alsohee shall weare 
a hempen roape apparently about his neck dureing the pleasure 
of this Con, so as if hee bee found to have gone abroad at any 
time w^'out it, hee shalbee againe whiped, & furtl/, if hee shalbee 
duely convicted to have attempted any such wickedness (for 
w'^'" hee is now sentenced) upon any child after this present day, 
hee shalbee put to death ; and hee is to pay forty pounds to 
M'' Humfrey for abuseing his daughter." But the Court allow 
him, 17 October, 1643, upon his wife's petition, liberty to leave 
off his rope till they require him to resume it. John Hudson, 
another vicious person, who had been employed by Mr. Hum- 
frey, had a severe punishment awarded him, by the same Corurt, 
for a similar offence. Likewise Daniel Fairfield, who seems to 
have been, if possible, worse than the others, his villany extend- 
ing also to Sarah Humfrey a younger sister of Dorcas. The 
extreme youth of these misses, rendered the crime the more 
aggravated, certainly in a moral sense ; yet the Court seem not 
to have deemed Dorcas entirely blameless, as the record adds: 
*' Dorcas Humfrey was ordered to boe privately severely cor- 
rected by this CoH, M'^ Bellingham & Licrease Nowell to see it 
done." The conduct of these abandoned men towards his two 
little daughters, must have been a crushing blow to Mr. Hum- 
frey. God certainly gave him a full share of affliction, and he 
seems to have received his chastisements in a christian spirit. 
There is, indeed, far too much evidence that society here, at 
that time, was in no manner exempt from the keener sufferings 
attendant on irreligion and vice. The careless reader might be 
led to a false estimate of the state of morals by the occasional 
boastings of those who were desirous of having it appear that 
above all places on earth. Virtue here accomplished her perfect 
work. There were flir too many, in whom the purified faith 
had not wrought a purification of heart. However unwelcome 
may be the task of unvieling the dark features of the time of 
which he speaks, the histjorian, if he would be faithful, must meet 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1635. 153 

it unslirinkingly. One may falsify as well by suppressing a 
part of the truth as by straight-forward lying.] 

John Deacon — was the first blacksmith at Lynn, and in 1638 
had 20 acres of land allotted to him. 

Edmund Farrington — embarked in the Hopewell, of London, 
1 April, 1635, with his wife and four children. (Record in West- 
minster Hall, London.) He was a native of Oney, in Bucking- 
hamshire, and born in 1588. He was a farmer, and had 200 
acres of land, part of which was on the western side of Federal 
street, where he lived, and part on the western side of Myrtle 
street. In 1655 he built a corn mill on Water Hill, where a 
pond was dug, and a water course opened for half a mile. [See, 
however, page 235.] He died in 1670, aged 82. The name of 
his wife was Elizabeth, and she was born in 1586. His children 
were, Sarah, born in 1621; Martha, b. 1623; John, b. 1624; 
Elizabeth, b. 1627, and married John Fuller, in 1646. He also 
had a son Matthew, to whom he gave half his corn mill, " except 
the tole of my son ffuller's grists, which is well and duly to be 
ground tole free, during the life of my daughter Elizabeth." 

Joseph Floyd — lived in Fayette street. In 1666, he sold 
his house and land to " Henry Silsbee of Ipswich," for thirt}'-- 
eight pounds, and removed to Chelsea. His land is described 
as bounded " west next the town common, and east next a little 
river." The " town common " then meant the public lands in 
Woodend ; and the '• little river " was Stacy's Brook. 

Christopher Foster — embarked in the Abigail, of London, 
17 June, 1635. He was a farmer, was admitted a freeman in 
1637, and lived in Nahant street. He Avas born in 1603. His 
wife Frances was born in 1610. His children were Rebecca, 
born in 1630; Nathaniel, b. 1633; John, b. 1634. 

George Fraile — died 9 December, 1663, [leaving one son 
and two daughters. His widow, Elizabeth, wa"^ appointed ad- 
ministratrix of his estate, which amounted to X184.4.] His son 
George was accidentally killed, in 1669, " by a piece of timber, 
of about fifteen hundred weight, rolling over him." 

Edmund Freeman — was born in 1590, and came to Lynn in 
1635. He removed to Sandwich in 1637, and was an Assistant 
of Plymouth colony in 1640. His children were Elizabeth, 
Alice, Edmund and John. Mr. Freeman presented the colony 
with twenty corslets, or pieces of plate-armor. 

Dennis Geere — came from Thesselworth to Lynn, in 1635. 
He was born in 1605, and his wife Elizabeth was born in 1613, 
His children were Elizabeth and Sarah. He died in 1635 and 
gave, by his will, X300 to the colony. 

Nathaniel Handforth — was a haberdasher, from London, 
and lived on the north side of the Common. He was buried, 
13 September, 1687, aged 79. 



154 ANNALS OP LYNN— 1635. 

Richard Johnson — came over in 1630, and lived with Sir 
Richard Saltonstall, at Watertown. He was admitted a freeman 
in 1637. He came to Lynn the same year, and settled as a 
farmer, on the eastern end of the Common. He died in 1666, 
aged 54. His children were Daniel, Samuel, Elizabeth, and 
Abig-ail. His descendants remain, [Abigail married a Collins, 
and Elizabeth a Tolman. His estate was appraised at £368.17.6.] 

Philip Kertland — was the first shoemaker known at Lynn. 
His name is from the German Cortlandt, or Lack-land ; and I 
think it was afterward chanired to Kirkland. He was from 
feherrmgton, in Buckinghamshire, and in 1638 had ten acres 
of land allotted to him by the town. He had two sons, Philip, 
born in 1614, and Natha'niel, born in 1616, who embarked on 
board the Hopewell, of London, William Bnndock, master on 
the first of April, 1635. The two sons remained at Lynn five 
years, and in 1640 went to form the new settlement of South- 
ampton, on Long Island. Nathaniel returned to Lynn, married, 
and had three children; Nathaniel, Sarah, and Priscilla. He 
was buried 27 Dec. 1686, aged 70. [In an article on the gene- 
alogy of the Kertland family of the United States, by Rev. F. 
W. Chapman, published in the New England Historical and Ge- 
nealogical Register, 14th volume, it is stated that the Kertlands 
of this countr}^ are supposed to have descended from Na- 
thaniel Kertland, of Lynn, who is reputed to have resided, pre- 
vious to his emigration, in Silver street, London. He had one 
son, John, who removed to Saybrook, during his minority, and 
was adopted by Mr. John and Mrs. Susanna Wastall. They 
having no children, made him their sole heir, as appears by a 
will, dated in 1672, It is quite certain that there was a Nathan- 
iel Kertland in Lynn, who had a son John, though Mr. Lewis 
does not appear to have been aware of the flict. This John 
went to Saybrook, and there married and reared a large family. 
And from him descended several eminent persons ; among them 
Rev, Daniel Kertland, who was a minister at Norwich, and 
father of Rev, Samuel Kertland, the well-known missionary to 
the Oneida Indians, and who was father of the distinguished 
John Thornton Kertland, president of Harvard University. 
And Rev. Dr. Samuel K. Lothrop, of Boston, is a grandson of 
Rev. Samuel, the missionary. By what follows, it would seem 
that there 'was also a John Kertland here, a brother of Philip, 
the first shoemaker. And it will also be seen that Mr. Lewis 
foiled to obtain a very perfect knowledge of the family of which 
he was speaking. In Salem Court files, 17 July, 1659, is found 
the following testimony of John Kertland, aged about 52: "I 
often hard my brother, Philip Kyrtland, say oftimes that his wife 
shouald haue all that hee had to dispose of, so long as she live, 
and to my best remembranc, he gave £15 to his dafter Mary 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1635. 155 

and ten pounds to his dafter Sara, and ten pounds to Ins dafter 
Susanna, and ten pounds to his dafter Hanna ; this to be given 
to them at y** day of marriag, the land not to be sould so long 
as she lives.'' And William Hardier, of Lynn, aged 65, or 
thereabout, deposed " that when Philip Kertland was going to 
see," he told him in substance as above. The name of the Cap- 
tain of the Hopewell, by the way, was Bundock, not Burdock, 
as it is sometimes printed, and as Mr. Lewis himself had it.] 

The following is from tlie Essex Registry, 14 October, 1659: 
" Know all men by these presents, that I, Evan Thomas, of Bos- 
ton, being about to marry the widow Alice Kertland of Lynn, 
do engage to and agree not to sell or alienate her now dwelling 
house and land." 

Thomas Laighton — was a farmer; a freeman in 1638 ; lived 
in Franklin street. He was a representative in 1646, and town 
clerk in 1672. He died 8 August, 1697. His children were, 
Thomas, Margaret, Samuel, Rebecca, and Elizabeth. [I have 
strong doubts as to the propriety of following the lead of Mr. 
Lewis in the spelling of this name. The public, records, to be 
sure, display considerable ingenuity in the multiplied variations 
of the orthography. But he himself wrote his name Laughton. 
A fac-simile of his autograph is here p ^ r-P 
given, as carefully traced from his f^^^*^''^ J^i^^f^h-v\y 

signature as witness to the will of signature of Thomas Laighton. 
Ihomas Newhall,.the elder, made in 

April, 1668. Laighton Bank takes its name from this settler; 
also Laighton street.] 

Francis Lightfoot — freeman 1636, died 1646. He came 
from London, and the name of his wife was Anne. 

Richard Longley — a farmer, had two sons; William, clerk 
of the writs in 1655, and Jonathan. 

Thomas Marshall (Capt.) — came to Lynn in 1635. He em- 
barked in the James, of London, on the 17th of July,* and soon 

* Hon. James Savage. Tlie public are greatly indebted to this gentleman 
for his intelligent annotations of Gov. Winthrop's Journal, and for his valuable 
researches in the manuscript records of England. [And I take the opportu- 
nity to add, that to the Genealogical Dictionary of Mr. Savage I am greatly 
indebted. That work bears evidence of remarkable fidelity and skill. And 
the magnitude of the labor would have been sufficient to appall any one not 
endowed with more than ordinary industry and perseverance. The readiness 
with which the author expresses a doubt, where one exists, gives additional 
assurance of his uncompromising determination to avoid misleading, if possi- 
ble, Sueh a course is really refreshing in view of the faithless multitude who 
are in the evil habit of fortifying uncertainty by positiveness. And the resolu- 
tion with which he unveils the little romances of such authors as unscrupu- 
lously make detours from the straight and narrow way of ti-uth, to gather 
flowers for the adornment of their narratives, while it cannot be more aptly 
characterized than in the orthography of his o%vn sm-name, certamly merits the 
highest commendation.] 



156 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1635. 

after his arrival was admitted a freeman. With many others, 
he returned to England to join in the ambitious designs of Crom- 
well, by whom he was made a captain. He served in the army 
of the anarch for several years, and returned to Lynn laden with 
military glory. He was six times chosen representative. He 
purchased the tavern, on the west of Saugus river, Avhich Mr. 
Joseph Armitage had opened. Here, with all the frankness and 
hospitality of a '' fine old English gentleman," he kept open 
doors for the accommodation of the traveling public, for more 
than forty years. Mr. John Dunton, who passed through Lynn 
in 1686, thus mentions him in his journal. "About two of the 
clock I reached Capt. Marshall's house, which is half way be- 
tween Boston and Salem ; here I staid to refresh nature with a 
pint of sack and a good fowl. Capt. Marshall is a hearty old 
gentleman, formerly one of Oliver's soldiers, upon which he 
very much values himself. He had all the history of the civil 
wars at his fingers' end, and if we may believe him, Oliver did 
hardly any thing that was considerable without his assistance ; 
and If I 'd have staid as long, as he 'd have talked, he 'd have 
spoiled my ramble to Salem." He died, 23 Dec. 1689. His 
wife^ Rebecca, died in August, 1693. He had two sous; John, 
born 14 Jan. 1659; and Tliomas, who removed to Reading. 
[There was a Thomas Marshall of Reading, .who, at the age 
of 22, is supposed to have come over in the James, from Lon- 
don, in 1635. He had children, Hannah, born 7 June, J,640 ; 
Samuel, b. 1 Sept. 1643, dying in one week; Abigail; Sarah, 
who died young; Thomas and Rebecca, twins, b. 20 Feb. 1648; 
Elizabeth; Sarah again, b. 14 Feb. 1655. And this Thomas 
Marshall, Savage, " after very long deliberation," thinks must 
have been " that man of Lynn always called Captain," who had 
at Lynn, children, Joanna, b. 14 Sept. 1657; John, b. 14 Feb. 
1660*; Ruth, b. 14 Aug. 1662 ; and Mary, b. 25 May, 1665. He 
was a member of the Artillery Company in 1640. His daughter 
Hannah married, John Lewis, at Lynn, 17 June, 1659 ; Sarah 
married Ebenezer Stocker, 15 July, 1674; and Mary married 
Edward Baker, 7 April, 1685. It seems very certain that Mr. 
Lewis made some confusion of persons. That Capt. Marshall 
loved to entertain with stories of his wonderful adventures and 
valiant exploits, quite as well as with good dinners, there is 
little doubt. And he seems to have been easily wrought to a 
fervid heat on matters pertaining to the Commonwealth. But 
we can hardly concur with the suggestion that he intended to 
impose on honest Mr. Dunton, though Dunton may have mista- 
ken his jolly host.] 

In the Essex Registiy of Deeds is the following testimony, 
which is interesting, as coming from the venerable old hero 
of Cromwell's war : " Captain Thomas Marshall, aged about 67 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1635. 157 

yeares, doo testifie, that about 38 _yeares since, the oiild Water 
mill at Linn, which was an under shott mill, was by Mr. Howell 
committed to him, or before the said time, and about 38 yearos 
since, the building of an over shott mill was moved to the towne 
of Linn, and for incuragement to go on Avith the said worke, 
they then of the Towne of Linn, Granted theii- Priviledges of 
water and water Courses to the said mill, and that this said 
water mill is now in the possession of Henry Roades; as witness 
my hand, Thomas Marshall; May 12th, 1683." 

Thomas Parker — embarked in the Christopher, gf London, 
11 March, 1G35. He was born in 1G14. [Rev. Theodore Park- 
er, the distinguished theologian, who died at Florence, Italy, 10 
May, 1860, was a lineal descendant of this old Lynn settler, as 
is shown by the pedigree traced by Hon. Charles Hudson, of 
Lexington.] 

John Pierson — was a farmer, lived on Nahant street, and 
removed to Reading. The name of his wife was Madeline. 

John Pool — was a flirmer, and had 200 acres of land. His 
descendants remain. [But he removed to Reading, where he 
died, 1 April, 1G67, his wife, Margaret, having died about five 
years before. His family and the Armitage wore closely con- 
nected. He is, perhaps, the same man who, at the Court, 4 Dec. 
1638, was fined 5^. for " abuseing his servant; " and who, with 
Timothy Tomlins and another, 7 Oct. 1611, was "admonished 
not to go to the Dutch, because of scandall and offence."] 

Nicholas Potter — was a mason, and had sixty acres of land. 
•[Mr. Potter appears to have become much interested in the 
Iron Works, after their establishment, but removed to Salem, 
in 1660. He was twice married, his second wife being a daugh- 
ter of John Gedney, of Salem. He made a will, 10 Oct. 1677, 
appointing his father-in-law sole executor, and in it mentions 
six children by his first Avife, namely, Samuel, Benjamin, Sarah, 
Mary, Hannah, and Bethia. He also had children by his second 
wife. Eight days after the date of his will, he died. The in- 
ventory of his estate gives, in amount, £206.11. He must have 
had the confidence of the people, while in Lynn, for in 1646, he 
was licensed by the Court to " draw wine," in accordance with 
the desire of the town, expressed in a vote passed at a public 
meeting.] 

Oliver Purchis — freeman in 1636, representative in 1660, 
town clerk in 1686. [He was elected assistant in 1685, but 
"declined his oath."] He removed to Concord, in 1691, and 
died 20 Nov. 1701, aged 88 years. 

Richard Sadler — a farmer; a freeman in 1639; came from 
Worcester, England. He lived b}^ the great rock near the junc- 
tion of Walnut and Holyoke streets. He was a member of tlie 
Salem Court in 1639, and clerk of the writs in 1640. He had a 
N 



158 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G35. 

son Richard, born in IGIO, who returned to England in 1647, 
and was ordained 16 May, 1648. [It was Mr. Sadler himself 
who became a preacher. He went home in 1646 or '7 and was 
ordained, at the date mentioned, at the chapel of Whixall, in 
Shropshire. But he was afterward advanced to a better living, 
at Ludlow, from which he was ejected, at the Restoration. Mr. 
Lewis does not state the time of his death, nor give any date 
from which his age might be inferred. But Calamy says he 
died in 1675,. aged 55. The age, however, seems to be wrongly 
stated; fo],- if he were born in 1620, as must have been the case 
if his age was 55 in 1675, it is hardly probable that he would 
have been appointed to the important public positions he held 
from 1639, onward, as long as he remained here. In 1639 he 
was made a freeman. That might have been, it is true, had he 
been but 19 years old, for youths of 16 could take the oath and 
perform the duties of freemen, with the exception of voting for 
magistrates, and with one or two other disabilities. But in the 
same year, he was appointed, with John Oliver and Robert 
Keayne, ''to run the bounds between Boston and Linn," and 
likewise made a member of the Salem Court. For the last two 
appointments, a person of nineteen years was certainly rather 
young. And then again, taking Mr. Lewis's statement that " he 
had a son Richard, born in 1610," in connection with the state- 
ment of Calamy that he died in 1675 at the age of 55, we have 
the rather uncommon occurrence of a son being born ten years 
before his father. The experienced Farmer, too, is not exempt 
from entanglement in the matter. He, no doubt on the author- 
ity of Calamy, gives the age of Mr. Sadler, at the time of his 
death, in 1675, as 55 ; and adds that the preacher who was or- 
dained at "Whixall, in 1648, was perhaps his son. But if he 
himself was onl}'- 28, at the time of the ordination, is it likely 
that he had a son old enough to be a settled preacher? The 
fact probably is, that Mr. Sadler himself was born in 1610. The 
error making him 55 instead of 65 at the time of his death, in 
1675, might easily have occurred; and some author, not imagin- 
ing that lie could have become a preacher himself, benevolently 
supplied him with a son to fill the sacred ofSce. Savage says 
Mr. Sadler went home in 1646, as fellow-passenger with John 
Leverett, Gov. Sayles, of Bermuda, and many others, of whom 
were the malcontent Dr. Child, Thomas Fowle, and William 
Vassall. And he does not seem to doubt that Mr. Sadler him- 
self was the preacher ordained at Whixall. The complications 
here exhibited very well illustrate the perplexities that constant- 
ly beset the path of one engaged on a work like the present. 
And if now and then a misstatement should be made or a wrong 
conclusion drawn, is it very wonderful? For something more 
regarding Mr. Sadler see under date 1638.] 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1636. 159 

Thomas Townsend — was a farmer, and lived near the Iron 
Works. He died 22 Dec. 1677. His sons were John, Thomas, 
Henry, and Richard. Some of his descendants remain, others 
were among the first settlers of the towns on Long Island. 

16 3 6. 

Mr. Bachiler had been readily dismissed from his pastoral 
charge, in the expectation that he would desist from its exercise, 
or remove from the town ; instead of which, he renewed his 
covenant with the persons who came with him from England, 
.intending to continue his ministrations. The people opposed 
•this design, as its tendency would be to frustrate their intention 
of settling another minister; they therefore complained to the 
magistrates, who forbade his proceeding. Finding that he 
disregarded their injunctions, and refused to appear before 
them, they sent the marshal to compel him. He was brought 
before the Court of Assistants, at Boston, in January, and was 
discharged, on engaging to leave the town within three months. 

Whoever has attentively read the lives of the early ministers 
of New England, as written by the Rev. Cotton Mather, must 
have noticed that they are all represented to have been men 
of uncommon learning, piety, and worth. This may be imputed 
partly to the embellishments of his pen, and partly to the fact 
that they were born and educated in the bosom of the church, 
and in the best universities of Europe. We are greatly indebted 
to Mr. Mather for his account of those ministers ; but we should 
have been flir more grateful to him, if he had been more partic- 
ular with regard to dates and facts respecting the subjects of his 
biography, instead of devoting so much time and space to the 
worthies of Greece and Rome ; for we could easily have pre- 
sumed his acquaintance with ancient history and the classics, 
without so ostentatious a display of it. In his life of Mr. Cob- 
bet, he has given us but one date with certainty — the rest 
have been supplied by my laborious research. Mr. Bachiler he 
did not notice, and the following sketch of his life is the first 
which has ever been offered to the public. 

The Rev. Stephen Bachiler was born in England, in the 
year 1561, and received orders in the established church. In 
the early part of his life he enjoyed a good reputation ; but 
being dissatisfied with some of the ceremonies of the church, 
and refusing to continue his conformity, he was deprived of his 
permission to perform her services. The church has been much 
censured for her severity ; and all uncharitableness and persecu- 
tion are to be deprecated ; but in simply ejecting her ministers 
for nonconformity, after they have approved her mode of wor- 
ship, and in the most solemn manner possible engaged them- 
selves in her service, the church is no more censurable than all 



IGO ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G36. 

other communities, with whom the same practice is common. 
On leaving England, Mr. Bachiler went with his family to Hol- 
land, where he resided several years. He then returned to 
London, from which place he sailed, on the ninth of March, 1632, 
for New England. He arrived at Lynn on the sixth of June, 
having in his company six persons, his relatives and friends, 
who had belonged to his church in Holland. With them, and 
the few who united with them, he constituted a little church at 
Lynn, without any of the ceremonies usual on such occasions. 
He continued his ministrations here for about three years, with 
repeated interruptions ; but he never had the support or the 
affections of the great body of the people. He was admitted a 
freeman on the 6th of May, 1635, and removed from Lynn in 
February, 1636. He went first to Ipswich, where he received 
a grant of fifty acres of land, and had the prospect of a settle- 
ment ; but some difficulty having arisen, he left the place. In 
the very cold winter of 1637, he went on foot with some of his 
friends, to Yarmouth, a distance of about one hundred miles. 
There he intended to plant a town, and establish a church ; but 
finding the difficulties great, and '' his company being all poor 
men," he relinquished the design. He then went to Newbury, 
where, on the 6th of July, 1638, the town made him a grant 
of land. On the 6th of September, the General Court granted 
him permission to settle a town at Hampton. In 1639, the 
inhabitants of Ipswich voted to give him sixty acres of upland, 
and twenty acres of meadow, if he would reside with them 
three years ; but he did not accept their invitation. On the 
5th of July, he and Christopher Hussey sold their houses and 
lands in Newbury, for " six score pounds," and removed to 
Hampton. There a town was planted, and a church gathered, 
of which Mr. Bachiler became the minister. The town granted 
him three hundred acres of land, and he presented tliem with a 
bell for the meeting-house, in 1640. Here he Avas treated with 
respect, and in 1641, he was appointed umpire in an important 
case of real estate between George Cleves and John Winter. 
Dissensions, however, soon commenced, and the people were 
divided between him and his colleague, Rev. Timothy Dalton. 
He was also accused of irregular conduct, whij^h is thus related 
by Governor Winthrop : 

"Mr. Bachiler, the pastor of the church at Hampton, who had suffered 
much at the hands of the bishops in England, being about eighty years of age, 
and having a lusty, comely woman to his wife, did solicit the chastity of his 
neighbor's wife, who acquainted her husband therewith ; Whereupon he was 
dealt with, but denied it, as he had told the woman he would do, and com- 
plained to the magistrates against the woman and her husband lor slandering 
him. The church likewise dealing with him he stiffly denied it ; but soon 
after, when the Lord's supper was to be administered, he did voluntarily con- 
fess the attempt." 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1636. 161 

For tin's impropriety, he was excommunicatetl by the church. 
Soon after, his house took fire, and was consumed, with nearly 
all his property. In 1643, he was restored to the communion, 
but not to the office of minister. In 164-1: the people of Exeter 
invited him to settle with them; but the Cnurt laid their injunc- 
tion. In 1647, he was at Portsmouth, where he resided three 
years. In 1650, being then eighty-nine years of age, and his 
second wife, Helena, being dead, he married his third wife, 
Mary; and in May was fined ten pounds, for not publishing his 
intention of marriage, according to law; half of which fine was 
remitted in October. In the same year, the Court passed the 
following order, in consequence of their matrimonial disagree- 
ment : 

"It is ordered by this Court, that Mr. Batchelor and his wife shall lyve 
together as ninn and wife, as in this Court they have publiquely professed to 
doe ; and if either desert one another, then herelW the Court" doth order that 
the marshal shall apptehend both the said Mr. Batchelor and Mary his wife, 
and bring them forthwith to Boston, there to be kept till the next Quarter 
Court of Assistants, that farther consideration tliereof may be had, both of them 
moving for a divorce ; and this order shall be sufficient order soe to doe ; pro- 
\aded, notwithstanding, that if they put in £50, each of them, for their ajjpear- 
ance, with such sureties as the commissioners or any one of them for the 
county shall think good to accept of, that then they shall be under their bade, 
to appear at the next Court of Assistants ; and in case-Mary Batchelor shall live 
out of the jurisdiction, without mutual consent for a time, that then the clarke 
shall give notice to the magistrate att Boston, of her absence, that farther order 
may be taken therein." 

Soon after this, in 1651, Mr. Bachiler left the country and 
returned to England, where he married his fourth wife, being 
himself ninety years of age, and his third wife, Mary, being still 
living. In October, 1656, she petitioned the Court, in the follow- 
ing words, to free her from her husband : 

"To the Honored Governor, Deputj^ Govenior, with the Magistrates and 
Deputies at the General Court at Boston: 
" The humble petition of Mary Bachelor sheweth — Whereas your peti- 
tioner, having formerly lived witli Mr. Stephen Bachelor, a minister of this 
Collany, as his lawfull wife, and not unknown to divers of you, as I conceive, 
and the said ]\Ir. Bachelor, upon some pretended ends of his owne, hath trans- 
ported hnnself unto ould England, for manv veares since, and betaken him- 
self to another wife, as yom* petitioner hath often been credibly informed, and 
there continueth, whereby yovn- petitioner is left destitute, not only of a guide 
to her and her children, Init also made uncapable thereby of disposing herselfe 
m the way of marriage to any other, without a lawful permission; and havin<' 
now two children upon her hands, that are chargeable unto her, in re"-ard to 
a disease God hath been pleased to lay upon them both, which is not easily 
curable, and so weakening her estate in prosecuting the means of cure, that 
she IS not able longer to subsist, without utter ruining her estate, or exposing 
herself to the common charity of others; which your petitioner is loth to put 
herself upon, if it may be lawfiillv avoided, as is well known to all. or most 
part of her neighbors. And were she free from her engasement to Mr. Bach- 
elor, might probably soe dispose of herselfe, as that she "^might obtain a meet 
heJpe to assut her to procure such means for her livelyhood, and the recovery 
N* ' 'll ^ 



162 ANNALS OF LYNN— 1636. 

of ber cliildrcn's health, as might keep them from perishing; whicli yom- 
petitionei-, to her great grief, is much afraid of, if not timely prevented. Yom- 
petitioner's humble request tlierefore is, that this Honored Court would be 
pleased seriously to consider her condition, for matter of her relief in her free- 
dom from the said Mr. Bachelor, and that slie may be at liberty to dispose 
of herselfe in respect of^uy engagement to him, as in your wisdomes shall 
seem most expedient ; and your petitioner shall humbly pray. 

Mart Bacheler." 

No record appears that the Court took any order on this 
petition ; nor are we informed whether the lady succeeded to 
" dispose of herselfe/' in the manner which she seems to have 
had so much at heart. It is to be hoped, however, that her 
request was granted, for the woman had undoubtedly suffered 
enough for her lapses, as the reader will probably agree, when 
he shall have read the sentence, which may serve to clear up 
at least one of the mysteries in this strangest of all the lives 
of our early ministers. In the records of York, on the fifteenth 
of October, 1651, is the following entry: "We do present 
George Rogers and Mary Batcheller, the wife of Mr. Stephen 
Batcheller, minister, for adultery. It is ordered that Mrs. Batch- 
eller, for her adultery, shall receive 40 stripes save one, at the 
first town meeting held at Kittery, 6 weeks after her delivery, 
and be branded with the letter A." In the horrible barbarity 
of this Sentence we blush for the severity of the punishment, 
rather than for the crime. The husband and his erring wife 
have long since gone to their last account, and their errors and 
follies must be left to the adjustment of that tribunal which we 
hope is more merciful than the decisions of men. Mr. Bachiler 
had, undoubtedly, many virtues, or he would not have had many 
friends, and they would not have continued with him through 
all the changes of his varied life. Mr. Prince says that he was 
"a man of fame in his day, a gentleman of learning and ingenu- 
ity, and wrote a fine and curious hand." It was on his separa- 
tion from the church at Lynn, with his subsequent misfortunes, 
that Edward Johnson wrote the following lines: 

" Through ocean large Christ brought thee for to feed 

His wandering flock, with 's word thou oft hast taught; 
Then teach thyself, with others thou has need ; 
Thy flowing fame unto low ebb is brought. 

"Faith and obedience Christ full near hath joined; 
Then trust in Christ and thou again mayst be 
Brought on thy race, though now far cast behind ; 
Run to the end and crowned thou shalt be.** 

Mr. Bachiler died at Hackney, near London, in 1660, in the 
one hundredth year of his age. He had four sons and three 
daughters. Theodate married Christopher Hussey, and re- 
moved to Hampton. Deborah married John Wing, of Lynn, 
and removed to Sandwich. The third daughter married a San- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G36. 163 

born ; Francis and Stephen remained in London ; Henry went 
to Reading-; Nathaniel removed to Hampton, where, in 1656, 
he married Deborah Smith, by whom he had nine children. 
After her death, he called on widow Mary Wyman, of Woburn, 
and offered himself She discouraged his hopes because he had 
so large a family. He replied, '• It was the first time he had 
ever known a woman to object to a man because he got chil- 
dren ; he was going to Boston on business, and when he re- 
turned he would call for her answer." He called as he promised, 
she became his wife, and presented him with eight more children. 
Among the descendants from the Rev. Stephen Bachiler, may be 
mentioned the Hon. Daniel "Webster. [Ebenezer Webster, the 
grandfather of Daniel, the distinguished statesman, was born at 
Hampton, 10 October, 1714, and married, 20 July, 1738, Susanna 
Bachilor, who was probably a descendant of Rev. Stephen, 
through his eldest son, Nathaniel, who lived at Hampton, and 
of whom Mr. Lewis tells the foregoing curious anecdote. But 
I find it elsewhere stated that he had three wives. 

[In Morgan's Sphere of Gentry, printed in 1661, may be 
found Mr, Bachiler's coat of arms. It consists of a plough, 
beneath which is a rising sun ; or, to use the technical language 
of heraldry, vert a plough in /esse and in base the sun rising or. 
The author calls it the coat of " Cain, Adam's son," and says it 
" did appertain to Stephen Bachelor the first pastor of the 
church of Ligonia, in New England ; which bearing was an- 
swerable to his profession in plowing up the fallow ground 
of their hearts, and the sun appearing in that part of the world, 
symbolically alluded to his motto, sol justitioi exointur." Does 
not "the church of Ligonia," mean the church of Lynn — an 
attempt being made to Latinize the name of the town ? Another 
work on heraldry gives the name Livonia; but this is, no doubt, 
a misspelling. Where the witty old author speaks of the plough 
as answering to Mr. Bachiler's profession in breaking up the 
fallow ground of their hearts, he might have passed on to the 
sun's office of warming and rendering fruitful the broken ground. 
There is, however, no very pleasing compliment in the reference 
to " Cain, Adam's son." Yet the author takes occasion to note, 
here and there, a comforting fact that seems to have become 
suddenly established in his mind, with or without connection 
with the matter in hand. Witness the following which appears 
as a marginal note : " Women have soules." And this seems to 
have been proved to his satisfaction by the first temptation, for 
he says, " had she not had a precious and rational soul the 
Devil would never have attempted her." This is plausible, but 
it might be argued that he only operated on her as an instru- 
ment for the destruction of her husband. And he seems inclined 
to give the evil one more credit for his sagacity, than Eve for 



164 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1636. 

her integrity, by asking, " indeed how could she withstand such 
temptation that did intice her to curiosity and pride, the com- 
mon sin of all their sex to this day ?" 

[The reader's attention is here solicited for a moment to the 
singular spectacle brought to view in the affairs of Mr. Bachiler. 
"VYiiile pastor of the church at Hampton, he is charged with 
having solicited the chastity of a neighbor's wife; yet the church 
at Exeter, knowing the fact, invite him to settle over them. 
Did they discredit the charges, or consider the offence not 
worth weighing? In 1650 he marries a woman who proves to 
be an adultresg, leaves her, and petitions for a divorce. This the 
government refuses, and going farther, orders that they '* shall 
lyve together as man and wife." Now what is to be thought 
of a government that compels a thing so revolting and so unne- 
cessarily cruel? From all the circumstances I am led to the 
conviction that the whole truth does not appear; that extenu- 
ating facts are concealed ; that there was a settled determination 
to make his continuance here uncomfortable, to say the least. 
The truth is, he had ventured to question the right of the civil 
authorities to supremacy in spiritual affairs. And that Avas 
enough to excite their indignation. The proof of his moral 
delinquencies, however, seems sufficient. It would be a bold 
step to attempt to discredit Winthrop; though it may not be 
unreasonable to suggest that, considering his ire towards those 
who were inclined to any thing like active opposition to the 
ruling powers, he might not have examined with sufficient 
severity the slanders which Mr. Bachiler's enemies put in circu- 
lation. Not only did Mr. Bachiler oppose the incipient union 
of church and state, but he also espoused the interests of New 
Hampshire wheti they clashed with the assumptions of the Bay 
Colony. And that was enough to bring a heavy load of fuel to 
the fire. And, furthermore, as is well known, his colleage at 
Hampton, Mr. Dalton, was strongly set in the Massachusetts 
interest, and virulently opposed to his associate. Mr. Bachiler 
was evidently an opponent not easily overcome; was well edu- 
cated; an adept in controversy; strong willed. He was a sin- 
ner, but greatly sinned against. And he probably had little 
more sympathy in the colonial councils than Williams, Hutchin- 
son or Wheelwright.] 

The dissensions in the churches at Salem and Lynn, and the 
scarcity of provisions, occasioned a fast to be proclaimed, which 
was observed on the 21st of February. 

On the third of March, the Court enacted that each town 
sliould have power to regulate its own affairs ; to set fines on 
offenders, not exceeding twenty shillings ; and to choose a num- 
ber of " prudential men," not exceeding seven, to order their 
municipal concerns. This was the legal origin of those officers 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1636. 165 

since called Selectmen ; thongli some of the towns had similar 
officers before. They were at first chosen for only three months : 
and the town of Lynn continued to choose seven, until the year 
1755, when the number was reduced to three. They also had 
a number of officers, called tythiugmen, because each one was 
set over ten families, to observe their conduct, and to report any 
violation of the public order. 

Mr. Timothy Tomlins was licensed as a retailer, " to draw 
wine for the town of Saugus." [He was also licensed to " keepe 
a house of intertainement."] 

Mr. John Humfrey and Capt. Nathaniel Turner were appointed 
by the Court to lay out the bounds of Ipswich. 

Mr. Humfrey built a windmill on the eastern mound of Saga- 
more Hill, which was thence called Windmill Hill. 

A Court was established at Salem, to be held quarterly, for 
the benefit of that and tlie adjacent towns. The judges con- 
sisted of a magistrate, and several freemen, selected from each 
town, by the General Court. This year there were four, of 
whom Gapt. Nathaniel Turner was one, [and Mr. Humfrey au- 
'other.] The first session commenced on the 27th of June. A 
fine of ten shillings was imposed on Thomas Stanley, the con- 
stable of Lynn, for not appearing ; and a record, made in Sep- 
tember, says, " Now it is in corn, in William Wood's hands." 
[Captain Turner was also appointed one of a valuation com- 
mittee, raised preparatory to the levying of a tax on the several 
plantations.] 

The Rev. Samuel Whiting arrived from England in June, 
and was installed pastor of the church at Lynn, on Tuesday, the 
8th of November. The Council remained two days, and found 
much difficulty in organizing a church ; which was composed 
of only six members, besides the minister. The following is a 
copy of the original church covenant transcribed by me from a 
leaf of a pocket Bible belonging to one of the ministers: 

"The Covenant of the First Church of Christ in Lynn. 
" We do give up oiu'sclves to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as to 
the only true and living God; avouching God the Father to be our father; 
embracing the Lord Jesus Christ as our only Savior, in all his offices, prophet- 
ical, sacerdotal and regal ; depending on the blessed Spirit of Grace to be our 
Sanctifier, Teacher, Guide, and Comforter, and to make effectual application 
of the redemption purchased by Christ unto us ; promising by the assistance, 
and through the sanctifying influences of that Blessed Spirit, to cleave unto 
this one God and INIediator, as his covenant people. We believe the revelation 
God hath made of himself, and our duty, in his word, to be true ; and through 
grace strengthening, we promise to comply with the whole will of God, so far 
as he shall discover it to us. We promise, by the assistance of Divine Grace, 
to walk before God in our houses, in sincerity of heart ; that we will u[)hold 
the worship of God therein ; endeavoring to bring up all under our inspection, 
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We shall endeavor the mortifica- 
tion of our own sins, and we covenant to reprove sin in others, as far as the 
rule requii'es ; promising in brotherly love to watch over one another, and to 



1C6 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1636. 

pubmit ourselves to the govenimeut of Christ in this church, aud to attend the 
orders thereof. We do likewise solemnly agree by all means to study and 
endeavor tlie peace of this church, and the maintenance of the purity of the 
worship of God therein ; that so the blessing of God may be vouchsafed 
to this his heritage. We do also give up oxu-selves to one another in the 
Lord, solemnly binding ourselves to walk together in the ways of his worship, 
aud to cleave to his ordinances, according to the lulcs of his word. . . H This 
vou heartily comply with and consent to. . . H You are now members in full 
commmiion with this church, purchased by the blood of Christ; and you do uow 
seriously, solenmly, deliberately, and forever, in the presence of God, by whom 
you expect shortly to be judged, and by whom you hope to be acquitted, m 
the presence of an innumerable company of elect angels, aud in the presence 
of this assembly, give up yourselves to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; 
avouching the Lord Jehovah to be your God. You give up yourselves unto 
this church ; submitting to the holy rule aud ordinance of it ; putting your- 
selves under the care and inspection of it ; promising to embrace counsel and 
reproofs with humbleness and thankfulness ; and duly to attend the adminis- 
tration of the ordinances of the Gospel in this church; so long as your oppor- 
tunities thereby to be edified in your holy faith shall be continued. . . H We, 
then, the church of the Lord, do receive you into our sacred fellowship, as 
those whom we tiust Christ hath received ; and we promise to admit you to 
all the ordinances of the Gospel in fellowship wth us ; to watch over you 
with a spirit of love aud meekness, not for your halting but helping ; to treat 
you with all tlmt affection which your sacred relation to us now calleth for ; 
and to continue our ardent prayers for jou, to the Father of Light, that you may 
have grace to keep this solemn covenant, you have now, before God, angels, 
and men, entered iuto ; that so the sure mercies of tiie everlasting covenant 
may be your portion forever. Amen." 

To those persons who did not wholly unite with this church, 
but only assented to the covenant, for the privilege of having 
their children baptized, the following Vv^as read immediately 
after the words " consent to." 

"You do now, in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly, avouch 
this one God in three persons to be your God ; engaging to be his, only, con- 
stantly, and everlastingly. You do further promise to labor in preparing for 
the table of the Lord, that in due time you may make your approaches to God, 
and the Lord Jesa^s Christ, the Lord aud Giver of eternal life, in all liis ordi- 
nances and appointments ; that at last you may give up yom* accoimt with joy 
unto Clii'ist, the Judge of all." 

[Mr. Lewis was no doubt mistaken in supposing this to be 
the original church covenant. The supplementary portion em- 
braces the " half-way " element, which was not known in New 
England till some time later. It is uncertain whether it was 
fully accepted in the Lynn church before 1768. It was adopted 
in different churches at difierent periods, and in some does not 
appear to have been known at all. To this half-way covenant, 
which was not the same in form in all the churches, such per- 
sons as desired, were admitted, if they sustained acceptable 
characters. The common way was for the candidates to pre- 
sent themselves before the congregation, on Sunday. And if 
they answered aiSrmatively the question which was in substance 
whether they believed the Bible to be the word of God, and 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1637. 167 

would promise to receive it as their rule of faith and practice, 
they were admitted to baptism for themselves or their children, 
though they might never become churcli members in full com- 
munion. The Lynn church, in 1768, voted " that none bo allow- 
ed the privilege of baptism for their children, but such as are 
members of the church, without their personally owning the 
covenant." And hence that date is fixed on as the time when 
the half-way covenant was adopted. It does not seem to have 
been common among the churches here, in the earliest times, to 
adopt doctrinal covenants or confessions of faith, there being 
no essential disagreements in matters of doctrine. They rather 
entered into simple agreements to walk together, with tlie Bible 
as their rule of faith. The compact of the first cliurch of Salem, 
may be taken as an example : " We covenant with our Lord and 
one with another, and we do bind ourselves in the presence 
of God, to walk together, in all his ways, according as he is 
pleased to reveal himself unto us." Had Mr. Lewis informed us 
which of the ministers the pocket Bible from which he copied 
the foregoing covenant of the church of Lynn belonged to, we 
miu-ht have been the better able to iudc-e as to the time of its 
adoption ; for it is evidently not the " original church cove- 
nant."] 

Some of the Pequot Indians, having committed several mur- 
ders upon the whites, induced the people of Massachusetts to 
commence a war upon them. On the 16th of June, this year, 
Gov. Henry Vane ordered Lieut. Edward Howe to have his 
men in readiness; and in August, four companies of volunteers 
Avere called out, one of Avhich was commanded by Capt. Na- 
thaniel Turner, of Lynn. They were directed to demand the 
murderers, with a thousand fathom of wampum, and some of the 
Indian children, as hostages. At Block Island, they destroyed 
seven canoes, sixty wigwams, and many acres of corn, and killed 
one Indian. At New London, they burnt the canoes and wig- 
wams, killed thirteen Indians, and returned, 14 September. 

16 3 7. 

On the 18th of April, 175 men were raised for a second expe- 
dition against the Pequots. Boston furnished 26, Lynn 21, 
(16 at first and 5 afterward,) Cambridge 19, Salem 18, Ipswich 
17, Watertown 14, Dorchester 13, Charlestown 12, Roxbury 
10, Newbury 8, Hingham 6, Weymouth 5, Marblehead 3, and 
Medford 3. The Connecticut troops attacked the Pequots on 
the 26th of May, a little before daybreak. Sassacus, the Pequot 
Sachem, had built a rude fort, surrounded by a palisade of trees. 
The soldiers came to the fort in silence, discharged their mus- 
kets on the slumbering natives, and then set fire to the camp. 
Stoughton, who commanded the expedition, says, of " six or 



168 ANNALS OF LYNN ^1637. 

seven hundred^ Indians/' many of whom were women, and old 
men, and helpless children, only " about seven escaped." The 
Boldiers from Lynn arrived three days after the massacre, and 
returned on the 26th of August. Sassacus, after this desolation 
of his tribe, fled to the Mohawks, where he was soon afterward 
murdered, as it was supposed, by an Indian of the Narragansett 
tribe, who were his enemies. Thus perished Sassacus, the last 
and bravest of the Pequots ; a chief, who in the annals of Greece 
would have received the fame of a hero — in the war of Ameri- 
can freedom, the praise of a patriot. [Under date 7 June, Mr. 
Humfrey writes to Gov. Winthrop, concerning the Pequot affairs, 
as follows : 

" Much Honoured : 

"Hitherto the lord hath beene wf* us, blessed forever be his ever 
blessed name. Our nation, the gospel, the blood of those njurthered per- 
sons of ours scemes to triumph in the present successe. Now I only desire 
to suggest it to yor wise and deeper considerations whether it be not probable 
the confederates of the Pequotts will not be glad to purchase a secure and 
feareles condition to themselues, by delivering up those men, or their heads, 
wlio have wrought and brought so much miserie upon themselues and theirs. 
Or if not so, whither (if they give good assurance of hostages, &c.,) tlie blood 
shed by them may not sceme to be sufficiently expiated by so great an ine- 
qualitie on their sides. Hitherto the horror and terror of our peojile to all the 
natives is aboundantly vindicated and made good. If providence for our 
humbling (as in regard to my self I much feare) should flesh them so by some 
new cruelties upon anie of ours, how low wee may be laid both in their and 
the eyes of our confederate Indians, and to how great daunger to us, yea possi- 
blie our posterities, I leave to your graver thoughts, if it be worth the consid- 
eration ; only to my shallownes it scemes considerable. 1st., whither it were 
not safe pawsing to see what effect this will or may worke upon such a de- 
mand ; 2dly, whither not best to rest in certaine victorie and honor acquired 
upon so small a losse ; 3dly, whither (if we carry away the greatest glory of 
these poore barbarous people in our triumphs over them,^ the losse of 3 moii 
more (if we should not exceede) may not be paraleld wt'^ so manie hundreds 
more of theirs; 4thly, whither wee must not be forced at last (and it may be 
in worse circumstances) to take this course unlesse divine iustice will miracu- 
lously shew it selfe in bringing them all into our net, W^'^ according to reason 
is not likely ; 5thly, whither the dreadfulnes of our maine Battallios (as it were) 
be [not ?] better to be measured by their feares raised on this last, than to see, 
say, or think, that our former victorie was not so much by valor as accident, 
w'='^ wee ourselves doe acknowledge providence ; Gthly, whither if we refuse 
to give or take such conditions now, they may not be likely to hold us to 
woi-se, or necessitate us to a perpetual war if for our owne ease wee after 
soke tliem, and when they see us, (as they may) afraide in tiie like manner. 
Much more, and to as little purpose, miglit be saide. But if you continue 
yor resolutions to proceed according to former intentions you may please to 
consider whither these bottles to bee used granado wise may not be of some 
use ; and whither (if the fort be so difficulte as it is reported into w'^'' they 
shall for their last refuge retire,) it were not [advisable ?] to prepare a petar or 
two to comaund entrance. Thus laying my low thouglits and my selfe at 
yo"" feete, to be kick'^ out or admitted as you see good, Ijeing glad to hope of 
the continuance of yo"" purpose to see us in yo"" way to Ipswich, w*^ my ser- 
vice to you and yours, I rest yet and ever. 

Yours (if anie thing) to sei-ve you, Jo : Humfret. 

June 7th, 1637." ' 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1637. 169 

[A fast was held in all tlio cliurches, 20 June, on account of 
the Indian war and antinomian disturbances, occasioned by Ann 
Hutchinson. Among licr advocates, were Gov. Vane and Rev. 
Messrs. Cotton and Wheelwright ; and among her opponents, 
Gov. Winthrop and Rev. John Wilson.] 

On the 23d of June, Gov. Winthrop visited Lynn, and was 
escorted by the inhabitants to Salem. He returned on the 
28th, traveling in the night, in consequence of the heat, which 
was so excessive that many persons died. 

Graham says there were at this time but thirty-seven ploughs 
in the colony, most of which were at Lynn. 

The members of the Quarterly Court, this year, were John 
Humfrey and Edward Howe. 

In a tax of £400, the proportion of Lynn was £28. 16. 

The General Court ordered that no person should make any 
cakes or buns, " except for burials, marriages, and such like 
special occasions." 

[The Court ordered that corn should be received as legal 
tender, at five shillings the bushel.] 

This year a large number of people removed from Lynn, and 
commenced a new settlement at Sandwich. The grant of the 
town was made on the 3d of April, by the colony of Pl,ymouth. 
" It is ordered, that these ten men of Saugus, namely, Edmund 
Freeman, Henry Feake, Thomas Dexter, Edward Dillingliam, 
William Wood, John Carman, Richard Chadwell, William Almy, 
Thomas Tupper, and George Knott, shall have liberty to view 
a place to sit down on, and have land sufficient for three score 
families, upon the conditions propounded to them by the Gov- 
ernor and Mr. Winslow:" Thomas Dexter did not remove, but 
the rest of the above named went, with forty-six other men 
from Lynn. 

The Rev. Thomas Cobbet arrived from England, on the 26th 
of May, and was soon after installed in the ministry, as a col- 
league with Mr. Whiting. The two ministers continued together 
eighteen years. Mr. Whiting was styled pastor, and Mr. Cobbet 
teacher. 

This year the name of the town was changed from Saugus to 
Lynn. The record of the General Court, on the 15th of No- 
vember, consists of only four words : 

" Saugust is called Lin." 
This relates merely to the change of the name, the town having 
been incorporated in 1630. [See page 134.] The name was 
given in compliment to Mr. Whiting, who came from -old Lynn, 
in Norfolk county, England. [Mr. Lewis makes a slight mistake 
in the first date. The order changing the name of the town 
was passed 20 November, corresponding with 30. November 
of the present style. And in the word Lin the N has a line 


/ 



170 ANNALS OF LYNN. — 1637. 

over it, denoting that it should be doubled. So the true spell- 
ing was Linn. But the orthography soon went through all 
the mutations possible, in which the sound could be preserved, 
and finally settled down on Lynn. Swampscot is just now 
being teased in regard to the spelling of her name ; some doub- 
ling the final letter, others not. I believe the act of incorpora- 
tion spells it with two t' ; but I liave followed Mr. Lewis, in • 
using but one, it seeming more simple and more in accordance 
with the style of the Indian language from which the name comes. 
As to the time when the town was incorporated, it is not certain 
that he is entirely right on principle, when he claims that the 
recognition of her representatives in the General Court was a 
constructive incorporation. If I mistake not Dane does not 
iillow such a rule. Yet, it may be asked, if Lynn was not incor- 
porated in 1630, when was she?] 

Old Lynn, in England, was called Lynn Regis, or King's Lynn. 
It was patronized by King John, who, in 1215, received great 
service from that town in his war against France. '' He granted 
them a mayor, and gave them his own sword to be carried be- 
fore him, with a silver gilt cup, which they have to this day." 
(Camden's Britannia.) The ancient Britons gave it the name 
oi Lhyn, a word signifying a lake or sheet of water. Camden 
says, it was " so named from its spreading waters." Speed, in 
his Chronicles of England, calls the waters before the old town, 
" the Washes of Linne." [Others affirm that the true name was 
Len, from the Saxon word len, a farm or tenure in fee ; though 
the Saxons sometimes used the word to signify church lands. In 
Doomsday Book, (1086,) it is called Lenne. It was about 1607 
that it was called Bishop's Linne, it then belonging to the Bish- 
op of Norwich. When the revenues of the bishopric came into 
the hands of the king, those of Linne among the rest, it began 
to be called Lynn Regis, or King's Lynn. And by that name 
or simply as Lynn, it has been known to this day.] 

An old British legend of 1360, asserts that the "Friar of 
Linn," by magic art, went to the North Pole, and came to Ameri- 
ca. There is a very beautiful ballad, of an early date, entitled 
"The Heire of Linne." I have only room for two stanzas: 

" The bonnie heire, the weel faiired heh-e, 
Aud the weary heire of Linne, 
Yonder he stands at his father's gate, 
And uaebody bids him come iu. 

# * * * 

" Then he did spy a little wee lock, 
And the key gied linking in, 
Aud he gat goud and money therein, 
To pay the lands o' Linne." 

[The first burial in the Old Burying Ground, at the west end 
of the Common, so far as is certainly known, took place this year. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1638. 



171 



The remains interred were those of John Bancroft, the same 
individual spoken of on page 118, as ancestor of George Ban- 
croft the distinguished historian.] 

A town meeting was held this year, in which Daniel Howe, 
Richard Walker, and Henry Collins, were chosen a committee 
to divide the lands ; or, as it was expressed in the record, " To 
lay out IFarmes." The land was laid out in those parts of the 
town best adapted to cultivation; and the Avoodlands were 
reserved as common property, and called the " town common," 
not being divided until sixty-nine years after. 

1638. 

. The committee appointed by the town to divide the lands, 
completed their task, and a book was provided, in which the 
names of the proprietors, with the number of acres allotted to 
each, were recorded. That book is lost ; but a copy of the first 
three pages has been preserved in the files of the Quarterly 
Court, at Salem, from which the following is transcribed. I 
have taken the justifiable liberty, in this instance, to spell the 
words correctly, and to supply a few omissions, which are in- 
cluded in brackets. The word " ten," which is added to many 
of the allotments, implies that a separate lot of ten acres was 
granted. [The first allotment, it will be seen, was to Lord 
Brook. And the Court, 13 March, 1639, empower Edward 
Holyoke to manage the estate of his lordship, " vntill the Lord 
Brooke do otherwise dispose of it.] 

PAGE I. 
1 
These lands followiug were given to the uiliabitants of the town of Lynn, 
Anno Domini 1638. 



To the Rijrht Honorable the Lord 
Brook, 800 acres, as it is esti- 
mated. 

To Mr. Thomas Willis, upland and 
meadow, 500 acres, as it is esti- 
mated. 

Mr. Edward Holyoke, upland and 
meadow, 500 acres, as it is esti- 
mated. 

Henry Collins, upland and meadow, 
80 acres, and ten. 

Mr. [Joseph] Floyd, upland and mea- 
dow, 60 acres, and ten. 

Edmimd and Francis Ingalls, upland 
and meadow, 120 acres. 

Widow Bancroft, 100 acres. 

Widow Hammond, 60 acres. 

George Bvn-rill, 200 acres. 

John Wood, 100 acres. 

Thomas Talmage, 200. 

Nicholas Brown, 200. 



William Cowdrey, 60. 
Thomas Laighton, 60. 
John Cooper, 200. 
Allen Breed, 200. 
John Pool, 200. 
Edward Howe, 200 and ten. 
Thomas Sayre, 60. 
Job Sayre, 60. 
Tliomas Cliadwell, 60. . 
William Walton, 60. 
Cliristopher Foster, 60. 
William Ballard, 60. 
Josias Stanbui-y, 100. 
Edmimd Farrington, 200. 
Nicholas Potter, 60. 
William Knight, 60. 
Edward Tomliiis, 200. and twenty. 
[" Mr." ] South, 100. 

Boniface Burton, 60. 
I John Smith, 60. 
iMr. Edward Howell, 500. 



172 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1638. 



PAGE II. 



To Nicholas Batter, 60. 

Mr. [Richard] Sadler, 200, and the 
rock by his house. 

Joseph Armitage, 60. 

Godfrey Armitajre, 60. 

To Matthew West, upland and mea- 
dow, 30, and ten. 

George Farr, 30, and ten. 

James Boutwell, 60 acres. 

Zachary Fitch, 30, and ten. 

Jarrett Spenser, 30 acres. 

Jenkin Davis, 30, and ten. 

George Taylor, 30, and ten. 

[William] Thorn, 30, and ten. 

Thomas Townsend, 60. 

Thomas Parker, 30, and ten. 

Francis Lightfoot, 30, and ten. 

Richard Johnson, 30, and ten. 

Robert Parsons, 30, and ten. 



Edward Burcbajn, 30> and ten. 
Anthony Newhall, 30. 
Thomas Newhall 30. 
Thomas Marshall, 30, and ten. 
Michael Spenser, .30. 
Timothv Tomlins, 80. 
[Williani] Ilarcher, 20. 
Richard Roolton, 60. 
[Nathaniel] Handforth, 20. 
Thomas Hudson, 60. 
Thomas Halsye, 100. 
Samuel Bennett, 20. 
John Elderkin, 20. 
Abraham Belknap, 40. 
Robert Driver, 20. 
Joseph Rednap, 40. 
[.lohn] Deacon, 20. 
Philip Kertland, senior, 10. 



PAGE III. 



To Philip Kertland, junior, 10. 
[Goodman] Crosse, 10. 
Hugh Burt, 60. 
[Goodman] Wafliin, 10. 
Richard Brooks, 10. 
Francis Godson, 30. 

George Wei bye, . 

William Partridge, upland, 10 acres. 

Henry Gains, 40. 

Richard Wells, 10. 

[Joseph] Pell, 10. 

John W^iite, 20. 

Edward Baker, 40. 

James Axey, 40. 

William Edmonds, 10. 

Edward Ireson, 10. 

Jei'emy Howe, 20. 

William George, 20. 



Nathaniel Wliiteridge, 10. 

George Frail, 10. 

Edmund Bridges, 10. 

Richard Longley, 40. 

Thomas Talmage, junior, 20. 

Thomas Coldam, 60. 

Adam Hawkes, upland, 100. 

Thomas Dexter, 350. 

Daniel Howe, upland and meadow, 60. 

Richard Walker, upland and meadow, 

200. 
Ephraim Howe, next to tlie land of his 

father, upland, 10. 
[Thomas] Ivory, 10. 
Timothy Cooper, 10. 
Samuel Hutchinson, 10, by estimation. 
Mr. Samuel Whiting, the pastor, 200. 
Mr. Thomas Cobbet, the teacher, 200. 



These three pages were taken out of the Town Book of the Records of 
Lynn, the 10th 1 mo. Anno Domini, 59, 60, [March 10, 1660,] by me, 

Andrew Mansfield, Town Recorder. 

The " Lord Brook " to whom the grant of 800 acres was 
made, "was one of those patriots," says Ricraft, "who so ar- 
dently longed for liberty, that he determined to seek it in 
America." He was shot with a musket ball, through the visor 
of his helmet, in the civil war of 1642, Avhile storming the cathe- 
dral of Litchfield. Sir Walter Scott alludes to this sacrilege, in 
Marmion. 

" When fanatic Brook 



The fair cathedral stormed and took : 
But thanks to heaven and good St. Chad, 
A guerdon meet the spoilei' had." 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G38. 173 

'•'He was killed by a shot fired from St. Chad's Cathedral, on 
St. Chad's day, and received his death wound in the very eye 
with wliich he had said he hoped to see the ruin of all the 
cathedrals in En<;land." 

[In the foregoing list of distributees are a few whose names 
appear nowhere else in Mr. Lewis's pages. Concerning some 
of these I have been able to collect interesting facts. And of 
some of tlie others, a few matters, deemed worthy of note will 
be added. They will be distinguished by italics. 

[William Walton. This was probably Rev. William Walton, 
who, as Farmer says, was minister at Marblehead nearly thirty 
years, though not ordained ; having gone there in 1639. He 
could have been at Lynn but a short time, as nothing is found 
of him here before 1635 or after 1638. He seems to have been 
a man of enterprise and worth. And he was well educated, 
having taken his degrees at Emanuel college. We find him at 
Hingham, in 1635; and he was admitted a freeman in 1636. 
He became interested in the settlement of Manchester ; and it 
seems not improbable, went there, more or less, every year, to 
teach. The passage from Marblehead to Manchester, by water, 
it will be observed, is short and safe. He died in September, 
1668. Mather misnames him Waltham. 

[3Ir. South. There is difficulty in determining with certainty 
who this individual was. The ''Mr." appears to have been 
supplied by Mr. Lewis. It was a title of dignity, and more 
charily used than " Esq." is at the present day. Perhaps he 
bestowed it, in this case, on the supposition that because a hun- 
dred acres were allotted, the recipient must have been more 
eminent than the " Goodmen," who received but ten. But 
judgment founded on such a circumstance would be quite un- 
safe, for the miserable Jenkin Davis received " 30 and ten." 
There was a William South, who, at a Court of Assistants, 4 Sep- 
tember, 1638, was "censured to bee severely whiped and kept 
to the Generall Courte. By whom he was banished, to returne 
no more vpon paine of death." His offence is not stated. But 
this seems to dispose of him, and confirm the belief that he could 
not have been tlie Lynn settler. There is among: the Salem 
Court files a will of Ann Crofts, of Lynn, wherein she speaks of 
her father South. Now this Ann Crofts, or Crafts, as Mr. Lewis 
has the name, was grandmother of Lion. John Burrill, the shi- 
ning legislative light, her first husband having been Thomas 
Ivory, and their daughter Lois having married John Burrill, 
senior. And l)y recurring to the deposition of Clement Coldam, 
on page 143, it will be found that there was a " mr. South " here 
about the year 1650, for whom the deponent says he "kept 
the key of the old sluce." But it will not profit to pursue 
inquiries respecting this rather mysterious individual. 
0* 



174 ANNALS OP LYNN 1638. 

[BicJiard Sadler. Mr. Sadler, it appears, had granted to him, 
in addition to his 200 acres, " the rock by his house." _ And 
this lofty porphyry cliff, which towers up near the junction of 
Walnut and Holyoke streets, is still known as Sadler's Rock. 
The view from it is extensive and beautiful, commanding the 
whole compass of the great plain on which the city stands, with 
the exception of a small portion of the northern and eastern 
fringe, and almost the whole extent of the Bay. The stone 
dwelling, erected near its base, in 1854, by the writer, stands a 
few rods farther up the hill, than the romantic nesthng place 
of Mr. Sadler's modest habitation. That our worthy predeces- 
sor in this locality stood high in public estimation, is manifest 
from the responsible duties he was elected to perform. And 
that he was a man of education seems evident from the fact that 
soon after his return to England he was ordained as a minister 
at Whixall, in Shropshire. See pages 157 and '8. 

[Joseph Armitage. Mr. Armitage, at the Ipswich Court, 26 
March, 1661, then aged "about sixty years," under oath stated 
as follows : " In this division of lands, "l and my brother Godfrey 
Armitage had given vnto vs about fourscore acres. I sold it 
about twenty and one years since for fifteene pounds in gold. 
And that the Land in Lyn Village, the thirty and forty acre 
lotts, are worth and sold for twenty shillings p'" acre." _ 

[Jarrett Spenser. I think the baptismal name of this individ- 
ual should be spelled Garrett. He was the person to whom the 
" fferry at Linn" was granted in 1639. He came to Lynn in 1637, 
and was admitted a freeman the same year. Sometime before 
1660 he removed to Haddam, Ct., and was there a representa- 
tive in 1674 and '5. He was the father of a numerous tiiraily. 
About 1665 his daughter Hannah married Daniel Brainard, grand- 
father of the celebrated missionar3\ 

[Thomas Halsye. Mr. Halsye was one of the Long Island 
settlers who went from Lynn. He remained many years at 
Southampton, and was the richest man in the place. He had 
much influence, and was active in establishing the Connecticut 
jurisdiction. In 1664, he was a representative. In 1666, his 
wife, or possibly the wife of his son Thomas, was murdered by a 
drunken Indian. And that was the only Indian murder com- 
mitted in the Southampton colony. The murderer was promptly 
surrendered and executed. 

[John Elderldn. Mr. Elderkin seems to have renroved from 
Lynn soon after these land allotments were made. He became 
a sojourner in divers places. In 1651 he was at New London, 
and there built the first church and the first mill. He finally 
settled at Norwich, in 1664, and there likewise built the first 
church and the first mill, and died 23 June, 1687. He had two 
wives and several children. His widow died at the ma^re age 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G38. 175 

of 95, in 171(), at Norwich. While at Lynn, Mr. Elderldn owned 
the mill which previously belonged to Mr. Howell. 

[Richard Brooks. TIJia settler arrived in 1635, and was then 
25 years of age. He came in the Susan and Ellen. In 1650 he 
went to Easthampton, being one of the first settlers there. 

[Francis Godson. This individual was a laborer, or crafts- 
man. On the Colony Records, 5 Aug. 1634, appears this entry: 
"Frauncis Godson hath bound himselfe in xl. for his psonall 
appearance att the Court to be holden in Octob'^ nexte to an- 
swer for breach of an order of Court in takeing to greate wages, 
&c." It will be remembered that the wages of mechanics and 
*|Jaborers were regulated by the Court. 

' [Richard Wells. Mr. Wells removed to Salisbury, where he 
became a prominent citizen, and a deacon in the church. He 
died 12 July, 1672. 

[Jeremy Hoicc. This was a son of Edward Howe, and he 
came over with his father, in the Truelove, 1635. He removed 
to New Haven, where he reared a family. Jeremiah Howe, one 
of tlie first settlers of Wallingford, in 1670, was probably his 
son, though at that time but about 20 years old. He died in 
1690. 

[Richard Longley. A singular dispute arose respecting this 
grantee, a William Longley, or Langley, claiming that he was 
the person intended. By the records, it appears that at the 
Court held at Ipswich, 26" March, 1661, Andrew Mansfield,^ aged 
" about thirty eight yeares," made affidavit that he had been an 
inhabitant of Lynn, " aboute two or three and twentye yeares," 
and that William Longley came at the time he did, and "by 
him selfe and familye " had remained an inhabitant, having 
, bought a house and land; that about 1649, this WilHam Long- 
ley, at a general town meeting, demanded that his portion of 
land should be laid out, according to the town records ; that 
"the Records were vewed and therein was found 40 acores 
granted to one Richard Longlye ; but his name being William, 
and not Richard, as alsoe sum asking the s*^ Longlye whether 
hee had p'' for the Laying it out; he Answering that he had 
not," the majority voted that it was not his. Mr. Mansfield 
also testified that Longley had been called by the name of 
Langley, and that he never knew an inhabitant of Lynn " called 
Longlye or Langlye, but this William'Longlye and his ffamilye." 
Clement Coldam and Hugh Burt, at the same Court, gave simi- 
lar testimony, Coldam declaring — "the s*^ W. Longley did in 
my hearing demand his proportion of land according to a former 
grant, and this demand being at a generall Town Meeting, some 
present answered that if he, the s*^ Longley, could prove Landes 
to be granted to him by the Towne, he might have it, or else 
nott; some present granting that there was land granted to 



176 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G38. 

Richard Langley, but none to JVilUam Langley ; further, this 
deponent, being an Inhabitant of the Towne of Linn before 
WilHam Longloy came into the s'^ ToAvne, and many years after, 
affirme that the sayed Longley was for many years caled Langh, 
and nott Longley, and is frequently so called vnto this day ; 
neither hath this deponent knowne any Inhabitant of Linn called 
by the name of Langley or Longley but onely this William Long- 
ley and his ffamile}*' On the question of laying out the land to 
William Longley, however, the town voted in the negative. 
But it is a little remarkable that at the " generall towne meet- 
ing" at which his petition was considered, there should not 
have been numbers who really knew whether he was the person 
intended in the distribution, which was made but twelve years 
before. It is difficult to conclude that the town was deter- 
mined to withold the land, right or wrong, or that the petitioner 
was fraudulently endeavoring to gain it by boldly claiming what 
he knew was intended for another. It seems, however, on the 
whole, pretty well established, though there remained room for 
doubt, that William was intended. Yet it must be added, that 
there was a Richard Longley in some part of Lynn, in 1636, 
who had two sons, William and Jonathan. He may have left 
town before the distribution and without the deponents' having 
any knowledge of him. In conclusion of the mysterious mat- 
ter, it must be remarked that William Longley, the petitioner, 
finally recovered a judgment, in the Court, for the land, or 
forty pounds in money. And it was out of this affair that the 
charge of perjuiy which John Hathorne made against Andrew 
Mansfield and William Longley, grew ; an accusation which, in 
its turn, produced a jar between the legal and ecclesiastical 
powers. See under dates 1662 and 1663. It was a small mat- 
ter but it kindled a great fire. 

[Thomas TaJmage, jr. This is thought to be the same Lieut. 
Talma ge, of New Haven, who was killed in the savage attack 
on Schenectady, 8 Feb., 1690, though he must then have been 
ripe in years.] 

Though the 8680 acres of land thus laid out among 100 fam- 
ilies, comprised the best portion of the plantation, the people 
thought they had not sufficient room, and petitioned the Court 
for more. On the 13th oj March, " Lynn was granted 6 miles 
into the country ; and Mr Hawthorne and Leift. Davenport to 
view and inform how the land beyond lyeth, whether it be fit 
for another plantation or no." The land laid out by this order 
was for many years called Lynn End, and now constitutes the 
town of Lynnfield. The Court afterward very prudently or- 
dered that the Governor and Assistants should " take care that 
the Indians have satisfaction for their right at Lynn." 

The preceding winter was extremely severe, the snow con- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G38. ' 177 

tinuing from 16 November to 4 April, and the spring was so 
cold that the flirmers were compelled to plant their corn '• two 
or three times." 

On the first of June, between the hours of three and four in 
the afternoon, there was an ^earthquake. It shook the whole 
country very heavily, making a noise like the rattling of coaches, 
and continued about four minutes. The earthquake was very 
great ; people found it difficult to stand, and furniture and 
chimneys were thrown down. Other smaller shocks occurred 
for several weeks after. [This appears to have been the first 
earthquake noticed by the settlers. It seemed to proceed from 
the northwest, and began with a noise resembling the roar of 
distant thunder. 

[The celebrated Military Company, which has continued in 
existence to this day, and is now known as the Ancient and 
Honorable Artillery Company, was formed on the first of June. 
Daniel Howe, of Lj^nn, was chosen lieutenant. And two other 
Lynn men, Edward Tomlins and Nathaniel Turner, became 
members at the same time. And from time to time during the 
long period from that day to the present our townsmen iiave 
been found in the ranks. The early settlers did not come for 
purposes of conquest, and were accompanied by no military 
force ; the common means of defense, indeed, seem to have 
been grudgingly supplied by the Directors. There were few 
among the first immigrants, possessing skill in the arts of war, 
for they especially prided themselves on being followers of 
the Prince of Peace. It soon, however, became apparent, that 
in retaining their foothold here, they would occasionally be 
compelled to resort to carnal weapons ; that guns as well as 
catechisms would be called in requisition ; that whatever might 
be the views of the government at home, or their own views, 
on political doctrine or abstract questions of right, the natives, 
in their rude conceptions of justice, would view them as intruders 
or occupants at sufferance. And having the shrewdness to per- 
ceive that with adequate preparation the battle would be half 
won, they speedily set about perfecting some sort of military 
organization. Train-bands, as they were called, were presently 
formed in every considerable settlement, officered by the most 
experienced and fearless. And these held themselves in readi- 
ness to do their utmost for defense. But under a system so 
inadhesive it was seen that much force must be wasted through 
diversity of organization and mode of discipline. It was there- 
fore thought advisable that a company should be formed at 
Boston, embracing members from the various sections, which 
should operate as a sort of regulator in military affairs, and a 
school for instruction in tactics. Action was soon taken ; a 
charter was obtained ; and on the first Monday of June, 1638,. 

12 



178 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1638. 

the renowned Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company was 
formed. 

[In the charter, it is called the " Military Company of the Mas- 
sachusetts." But having soon obtained field pieces, it began 
to be called the Artillery Company, or the Great Artillery, As 
late as 1691, Cotton Mather, in his election sermon, calls it the 
Artillery Company. In 1708, however, Mr. Danforth, in the 
title-page of his sermon, prefixes the word " Honorable." Fi- 
nally, in 1738, Dr. Colraan, who preached the centennial sermon, 
gives the full title, "Honorable and Ancient Artillery Company." 
The charter granted privileges to the Company, and it was fos- 
tered with much solicitude. There were some, however, who 
viewed the new institution with distrust, fearing that it might 
prove the germ of a power that would subvert or endanger the 
liberties of the people. Indeed there was some difficulty in ob- 
taining the charter, on the ground that several of the proposed 
members were known adherents of Mrs. Hutchinson. 

[At the organization, Robert Keayne, an eminent merchant 
of Boston, was elected Captain. He was father of Benjamin 
Keayne, who lived a short time at Lynn, and of whom some 
particulars may be found under date 1645. Daniel Howe, as 
before stated, was elected lieutenant. He was a Lynn man, and 
an officer of the train-band here. Such was the beginning of 
this famous military Company, and it yet continues in health- 
ful existence. The elections are still made on the first Monday 
of June. And the pleasant holiday of Artillery Election con- 
tinues to be honored by a sermon, and a dinner. And the Gover- 
nor dispenses the commissions from his seat on Boston Common. 

[It is not now known whether the Company had a uniform at 
the time of its organization. There is a tradition, however, that 
they soon appeared in enormous white wigs. Dr. Colman, in 
his centennial sermon, before alluded to, remarks, '•' The captains 
awed their families and neighbors by their gravity and piety, 
as well as frightened their enemies by their boldness and firm- 
ness. The natives trembled when they saw them train, and old 
as well as 3'ouug stood still and reverenced them as they passed 
along in martial order." Though they do not inspire precisely 
such feelings, as they parade, at the present day, they yet re- 
ceive marked attention. And may the venerable organization 
flourish through centuries to come. A list of the members 
from Lynn will appear among the tables at the close of the 
volume. 

[This year, some of the Pequot captives were sent to the 
West Indies and sold for return cargoes of cotton, tobacco, and 
negroes. And this was the bec-innins: of negro slavery here. 
Along in the next century large quantities of rum were shipped 
from New England to the coast of Africa and exchanged for 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G38. 179 

negroes, some of whom were carried into the southern colonies 
and others disposed of liere. It is not easy to determine pre- 
cisely what the real feelings of our puritan ancestors were 
regarding negro slavery. To judge from the occasional Court 
orders, it would appear that for the most part it was entirely 
discountenanced or existed only in a greatly modified form. 
But from other sources are derived hints that it was favored, in 
some of its most inhuman features. In lG-11, the Court declare, 
by a general act, that " There shall never be any bond slaverie, 
villianage, or captivitie amongst us, unless it be lawfull captives 
taken in just warres, and such strangers as willingly selle them- 
ieelves or are sold to us. This exempts none from servitude 
Avho shall be judged thereto by authoritie." This is very loose. 
What is to prevent the existence of negro slavery, under the 
clause "such strangers as selle themselves or are sold to us"? 
And under the clause " lawfull captives taken in just warres," 
where stand the poor Indians? In 1701, the people of Boston 
passed a vote, desiring their representatives to use exertions to 
encourage the in-coming of white servants and to put a period 
to the enslaving of negroes. Judge Sewall writes, 22 June, 
1716, " I essayed to prevent negroes and Indians being rated 
with horses and cattle, but could not succeed." There were 
4.489 slaves in Massachusetts, in 1754. It was not, in reality, 
till 1783, that slavery came to an end in the state, though there 
were some Court orders professedly aimed at its extinguish- 
ment, at a much earlier date. The following appeared as an 
advertisement in the Boston News Letter, in August, 1742 : " A 
negro woman to be sold by the printer of this paper; the very 
best negro woman in town, — who has had the small-pox, and 
the measles, — is as healthy as a horse, — as brisk as a bird, and 
will work like a beaver."] 

A settlement was this year begun at Hampton, in New Hamp- 
shire, by Rev. Stephen Bachiler, Christopher Hussey, and four- 
teen others, most of whom had been inhabitants of Lynn. 

Many farmers pastured their cows in one drove, and watched 
them alternately. When it came to Mr. John Gillow's turn, an 
ill-minded man detained him in conversation till the cows strayed 
into a field of corn, where two of them ate so much that they 
became sick, and one of them died. It happened that these 
two cows belonged to the man who had occasioned the mis- 
chief, who complained of Mr. Gillow before the Court of Assist- 
ants, at Boston, 7 September. As it Avas proved that the man 
had boasted of having designed that the cattle should stray, the 
case was decided in Mr. Gillow's favor. 

On the sixth of September, Mr. John Humfrey sold to Eman- 
uel Downing, of Salem, " the 2 ponds and so much high ground 
about the ponds, as is needful to keep the Duck Coys, privately 



180 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1639. 

set, from disturbance of ploughmen, herdsmen, and others pass- 
ing by that v^ay, which he may enclose, so as to take not in 
above fifty acres of the upland round about the same." These 
two ponds were probably Coy and Deep p-^nds, near Forest 
river. In the Registry, at Salem, where the above is recorded, 
Mr. Humfrey is called of Salem ; but that is not a copy of the 
original grant. In early time, the deeds were not recorded 
literally, but only a sketch of them was entered by the clerk. 
A common form of beginning deeds then was, " To all Christian 
People." One deed is recorded, which commences thus — 
" To all Christian People, Fishermen, and Indians." 

16 3 9. 

Among those who promoted the settlement of New England, 
were several of the name of Lewis. Some of them were in 
the country at a very early period, but the name first appears 
at Lynn, this year. I have copious memoirs of this family, from 
which I shall make a few brief extracts, that I may not be like 
the poet described by Leyden, who 

" Saved other names, and left Lis own unsung." 

When the whole country was a wilderness, Thomas Lewis 
came from Wales to establish a plantation. He made his first 
visit to Saco, then called by the Indians, Saga-dahock, in 1G28; 
and on the 12th of February, 1629, received the following grant, 
a copy of which was preserved in the archives of Massachusetts. 

To all Christian People, to whom this present writing indented shall come : 

The Coiuicil for the Affairs in New England ... in consideration that 
Thomas Lewis, Gentleman, hath already been at the charge to transport him- 
self and others to take a view of New England . . . for the bettering of hia 
exjicrience in the advancing of a Plantation, and doth now wholly intend by 
God's assistance, to plant there, both for the good of his Majesty's realms and 
for the propagation of the Christian Religion among those infidels ; and in 
consideration that the said Thomas Lewis, together with Captain Richard 
Bonython, and their associates have undertaken, at their own proper costs and 
charges, to transport Fifty Persons thither, within seven years . . . have given 
all that part of the Maine Land, commonly called and known by the name of 
Sagadahock . . . containing in breadth, from northeast to southwest, along 
by the Sea, Four Miles in a straight line, accounting seventeen hundi-ed and 
three score yards, according to the standard of England, to every mile, and 
Eight English Miles upon the IMaiue Land, upon the north side of the River 
Sagadahock ... He and they yielding and paying unto our Sovereign Lord, 
the King, one fifth part of gold and silver, one other fifth part to the Council 
aforesaid. 

This deed was signed by Edward Gorges ; and the Rev. Wil- 
liam Blaxton, of Boston, was named attorney for the Council. 
This grant included 32 square miles, and comprised the whole 
of the town of Saco. Thomas Lewis died in 1640. Judith, his 
eldest daughter and heiress, married James Gibbins. 

William Lewis was descended from a very respectable 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1639. 181 

family in Wales. His descendants enjoy great satisfaction in 
being able to trace their descent from a very high antiquity. 
He came to Boston in 1636. In the year 1640, he and his wife 
Amy are recorded by Rev. John Eliot, of Roxbury, as attend- 
ants at his church. In 1653, he became one of the proprietors 
of the pleasant inland town of Lancaster, on the Nashua river, 
and was the third person in regard to wealth among the settlers 
of that town. He died 1 Dec. 1671. He had eight children; 
1. John, born 1 Nov. 1635. 2. Christopher, b. 2 Dec. 1636. 
3. Lydia, b. 25 Dec. 1 639. 4. Josiah, b. 28 July, 1641. 5. Isaac, 
b. 14 April, 1644. 6. Mary, baptized 2 Aug. 1646. 7. Hannah, 
baptized 18 March, 1648. 8. Mordecai, born 1 June, 1650. His 
son John returned to Boston, and built a house on land which 
his father had purchased of Governor Richard Bellingham. 

[At this point Mr. Lewis gives his own lineage thus: 
William Lewis, of Wales, and Amy his w^fe, had children, John, 
Christopher, Lydia, Josiah, ||Isaac\ of Boston, Mary, Hannah, 
Mordecai. 
Isaac Lewis^, of Boston, married Mary Davis, and had children, 

Mary, ||Tsaac- of Boston, Joseph, John, Abraham. 
Isaac Lewis'^, of Boston married Hannah Hallett, and had chil- 
dren, Isaac, John, Hannah, William, Abijuh, Mary, ||Nathan, 
of Boston, Joseph. 
Nathan Lewis, of Boston, married Mary Newhall, and had chil- 
dren, Lois, Nathan, John, Thomas, DavicJ, Henry, Benjamin, 
llZachariah, of Lynn, Stephen, William. 
Zachariah Lewis, of Lynn, married Mary Hudson, and had chil- 
dren, II Al N z 0, of Lynn, the historian, Irene, MaYy, William. 
[But since Mr. Lewis traced his pedigree additional facilities 
for genealogical research have been secured, and many doubtful 
points determined. It now seems quite clear that the first of 
the two Isaacs named was not a son of William of Wales; and 
that the following, is a correct pedigree : 

[JoJi ft Lewis, of Maiden, by his second wife, Mary, daughter 
of Abraham Browne, of Watertown, had Isaac, who, by his wife 
Mary Davis, had Isaac, ofRumney Marsh (Chelsea), who, by his 
wife Hannah Hallett, had Nathan, of Boston, who by his wife 
Mary Newhall, had Zachariah, of Lynn, who by his wife Mary 
Hudson, had Alonzo, the historian. "... it must be ob- 
served," says Savage, in speaking of the first Isaac, "that this 
; Isaac is by Lewis, in History of Lynn, made son of William of 
'Roxbury [or Wales] ; and the historian asserts that his grand- 
father Nathan was grandson of this person. But court records, 
as brought out in the invaluable History of Watertown, by Bond, 
p. 125, show the contrary."] 

Edmund Lewis — was one of the early proprietors of Water- 
town, and was admitted a freeman, 25 May, 1636. On the 14tK 
P 



182 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1639. 

of October, 1638, he was one of the committee appointed to lay 
out the lands in that town. He came to Lynn in 1639, and was 
the first settler in Lewis street. He died in January, 1651. 
The name of his wife Avas Mary, and his children were John, 
Thomas, James and Nathaniel. His descendants remain. 

George Lewis came from East Greenwich, in the county of 
Kent, England. He was at Plymouth, in 1633. He removed 
to Scituate, and afterward to Barnstable. He married Sarah 
Jenkins, in England, and had nine children, of whom Joseph 
and John were killed by the Indians, in the war of 1675. Dr. 
Winslow Lewis, of Boston, descended from this family. 

On the 14th of January there was an earthquake. 

[There was an unusual drought in the early part of this year. 
Scarcely any rain fell between 26 April and 4 June.] 

Anotlier grant of land was made to the town, by the General 
Court, on the ninth of September. " The petition of the Inhab- 
itants of Lynn, for a place for an inland plantation, at the head 
of their bounds is granted them 4 miles square, as the place 
willafloard; upon condition that the petitioners shall, within 
two years, make some good proceeding in planting, so as it may 
be a village, fit to contain a convenient number of inhabitants, 
which may in dewe time have a church there ; and so as such 
as shall remove to inhabit there, shall not withal] keepe their 
accommodations in Linn abovt; 2 years after their removal to 
the said village, upon pain to forfeit their interest in one of 
them at their election; except this court shall see fit cause to 
dispense further with them." The settlement thus begun was 
called Lynn Village, and included Reading, South Reading, and 
North Reading. [The land was purchased of the Indians for 
X10.16, and the deed signed in 1640, by Sagamore George, his 
sister Abigail, and one or two others.] 

Two other settlements were this year begun by people who 
removed from Lynn ; one at Barnstable, and the other at Yar- 
mouth. 

The General Court allowed the town fifty pounds to build a 
bridge over Saugus river, and fifty shillings annually to keep it 
in repair. They forbade the people to spread bass or codfish 
upon their lands, as they had been accustomed to do, for the 
enrichment of the soil. A tax of one thousand pounds was 
laid, of which the proportion of Lynn was X79.19.9. On the 
third of December, the Court laid a fine often pounds upon the 
town, for not maintaining a watch against the Indians. 

The following order, passed by the General Court for the 
regulation of women's dresses, will be interesting to my lady 
readers. " No garment shall be made with short sleeves ; and 
such as have garments already made with short sleeves, shall 
not wear the same, unless they cover the arm to the wrist ; and 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G40. 183 

hereafter no person whatever shall make any garment for \\H)men 
with sleeves more than half an ell wide ; " that is, twenty-two 
and a half inches. Our early legislators were anxious to kee|» 
the minds, as well as the persons, of their women '* in good 
shape." It seems that in 1637, the ladies of Boston were accus- 
tomed to meet for social improvement; on which Governor 
Winthrop remarks, " That though women might meet, some 
few together, to pray and edify one another, yet such a set 
assembly, where sixty or more did meet every week, and one 
woman in a prophetical way, by resolving questions of doctrine, ' 
and expounding scripture, took upon her the whole exercise, 
was agreed to be disorderly, and without rule." [The alarm 
of the Governor at the power and success of Mrs. Hutchinson 
is conspicuous. If women had been allowed greater sway than 
they were, in those early times, some things might have been 
better managed. One cause of the harsh tone of the whole 
economy of the period is to be looked for in the restricted 
influence of the gentler sex.] What luould they have thought 
in these later times, when women write books, and supply our 
pulpits. It might have been well for human welfare, if our 
legislators had always been as harmlessly employed, as whan 
they were cutting out dresses for the ladies. 

[John Oliver, Robert Keayne, and Richard Sadler, ■were ap- 
pointed to run the bounds between Boston and Lynn. 

[At the same Court, Lynn was fined IO5. for ''their bad 
wayes," and admonished to mend them by the next Court. 
There is something a little equivocal in this ; but highways are 
probably intended. At tlie December Court, she was fined 5s. 
for want of sealed weights, and 5-s. for not giving in a transcript 
of her lands. 

[This year, the Court granted to Garrett Spenser, " the 
fferry at Linn, for two yeares, taking 2'' for a single person to 
the furthest place, and but a 1*^ a person for more, to the fur- 
thest place, and but a 1'' for a single person to the nearest place." 
This ferry, was, without doubt, from Needham's Landing, be- 
tween Chase's mill, and the Turnpike, in Lynn, to Ballard's 
Landing, in East Saugus, and was a great convenience.] 

1640. 

Many new inhabitants appear at Lynn about this time. The 
great tide of immigration ceased in 1641, and after that time 
not many came over. 

Samuel Aborxe — was a farmer, and resided at first on the 
Common. He afterward removed to Lynnfield, where his de- 
scendants remain. 

Hugh Alley — was a farmer, and lived at the south end 
of Market street. He had a son Hugh, who married Rebecca 



184 ANNALS OP LYNJTT— 1640. 

HoocJj 9 Dec. 1G81, and had seven children. Solomon, born 11 
Oct. 1682; Jacob, b. 28 Jan. 1683; Eleazer, b. 1 Nov. 1686; 
Hannah, b. 16 Aug. 1689; Richard, b. 31 July, 1691 ; Joseph, 
b. 22 June, 1693 ; Benjamin, b. 24 Feb. 1695. [The first-named 
Hugh came over in 1635, at the age of 27, and had sons, John, 
born 30 Nov. 1646; Hugh, b. 15 May, 1653; Solomon, b. 2 
Aug. 1656; Jacob, b. 5 Sept. 1663 — and daughters, Mary, b. 
6 Jan. 1642 ; Martha, b. 31 July, 1649 ; Sarah, b. 15 April, 1651 ; 
Hannah, b. 1 June 1661. He died, 25 Jan. 1674. His son Sol- 
omon, at the age of nineteen, was killed at Bloody Brook, 
1675, having been one of the " flower of Essex," under La- 
throp.] 

John Alley — was a farmer, lived in Market street, and had 
five children. John, born in January, 1675 ; Hannah, b. 22 
Jan. 1679 ; Bebecca, b. 28 May, 1683 : Hugh, b. 15 Feb. 1685 ; 
William, b. 14 July, 168-. The descendants of Hugh and John 
Alley are very numerous. 

Thomas Bancroft (Lieut.) — was a son of widow Bancroft, 
and had two children ; Ebcnezer, born 26 April, 1667 ; Mary, 
b. 16 May, 1670. He died 12 ^farch, 1705. His wife Elizabeth 
died 1 May, 1711. His descendants remain. 

William Bassett — was a farmer, and died 31 March, 1703. 
He had two sons ; William, who married Sarah Hood, 25 Oct. 
1675; and Elisha, whose wife's name was Elizabeth. His de- 
scendants remain. [He lived on Nahant street, on land which is 
still (1863) in possession of his descendants. He married Sarah, 
daughter of Hugh Burt, who died in 1661. He was an ensign 
in the company of Capt. Gardner, of Salem, in the Indian war, 
and was at the " swamp fight." For his services, the General 
Court made him a grant of land. Capt. William Bassett, sup- 
posed to be the same individual, was one of a council of war, 
with Major Benjamin Church, at Scarborough, Me. 11 Nov. 1689. 
His name often appears in the oldest town records of Lynn, 
where, in 1691, he is called Quartermaster Bassett. He died 
31 March, 1703. His son William, who married Sarah Hood, as 
stated above, by Mr. Lewis, succeeded to the estate. This Sa- 
rah was the same person spoken of under date 1692, as having 
been imprisoned for witchcraft. He also had a daughter Eliza- 
beth, who married John Proctor, of Danvers, who was executed 
for witchcraft. She was condemned, but pardoned. She had a 
second husband, named Richards. His children, besides those 
named, were Sarah, who married Thomas Elwell, of Gloucester, 
in 1675, and in 1701 lived in Salem county, N. J. ; Rebecca; 
John, born in 1653; Miriam, b. 1655; Mary, b. 1657, who was 
also imprisoned for witchcraft, in 1692 ; Hannah, b. 1660, who 
married John Lilley, of Woburn ; Samuel, b. 1664 ; and Rachel, 
b. 1666, who married Ephraim Silsbee. And this is, perhaps, as 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G40. 185 

convenient an opportunity as any that will occur, to follow tho 
line down to tbe present time. 

(2) William Bassctt, son of William the first Bassett here, married Sarah 
Hood, 25 Oct. 1G75, and had children, Sarah, born 1G7G, who married 
Joseph Griffin, for her fii-st husband, and a Ncwbold for her second ; || Wil- 
liam, b. 1678, who married Rebecca J5erry, in 1703. His father's lands 
were divided between him and his brother John ; Mary, b. 1G80, wlio mar- 
ried a Hill ; John, b. 1G8"2, who married Abigail Herry, of Boston ; Hannah, 
b. 1G85, who married John Estes, of Salem; Ruth, 1). 1G89, who married 
Abraham Allen, of Marblehead ; Joseph, b. 1G92, lost at sea ; Deliverance, 
b. 1G95, who, in 1719, married Sanmel Breed; Abigail, who, in 1728, mar- 
ried Samuel Alley. 

(3) William Bassett, son of (2) William, had children, Rebecca, born 
1709 ; Miriam, b. 1712, who, in 1732, man-ied David Northey, of Salem ; 
||Joseph, b. 1715, who inherited his father's lands, and married Eunice 
Hacker; Elizabeth, who in 1729, married Benjamin Hood. 

(4) Joseph Bassctt, son of (3)William, had children, William, born 1738, 
who died yoimg; ||lsaac, b. 1741, who, in 17G9, married Mary, daughter 
of Joshua Collins, was a farmer and shoemaker, and inherited one half 
of the lauds of his father, and died in 1829; Nehemiah, b. 1749, who 
married Abigail Fern ; Rebecca, b. 1754, who married James Breed ; Sa- 
rah, b. 1757, who married Abraham Breed ; Eunice, b. 1759 ; Hannah, b. 
17G3, who married William Breed, of Nahant. 

(5) Isaac Bassett, son of (4) Joseph, had children, Elizabeth; William, 
who died young; Eunice; William, agjiiu, who also died young; ||Isaac, 
who married Ruth Breed ; Eunice, again, who married Ezra Collins ; Han- 
nah, who married Samuel Neal. 

(6) Isaac Bassett, son of (5)Isaac, who is now (1863) at the mature age 
of 83, residing in Nahant street, on the site occupied by his forefathers, 
has long held position as a citizen of energy, enteiprise, and wealth. His 
son William is cashier of Lynn IMechanics Bank. And William's son 
William is cashier of the Bank of the Republic, at Boston,] 

Robert Bridges — was admitted a freeman, 2 June, 1641. In 
the same 3'ear he was a member of the Ancient Artillery Com- 
pany and a captain in the militia. He had a large share in the 
Iron Works. In 1611, he was chosen representative, and ap- 
pointed a member of the Quarterly Court at Salem. In 1616, 
he was Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the next 
year became an Assistant, in which ofiSce he continued until his 
death, in 1656. 

William Clark — a farmer, died 5 March, 1683. His chil- 
dren were Hannah, John, Lydia, Sarah, Mary, and I?lizabeth. 
His descendants remain. 

John Divex — died 1 Oct. 1681. He had a son John. 

Thomas Farrar — was a farmer, and lived in Nahant street. 
He died 23 Feb. 1691. His wife EHzabeth, died 8 Jan. 1680. 
[And he married his second wife, Abigail ColHns, 3 March, 1681.] 
He had one son, Thomas, wlio married Elizabeth Hood, 6 Dec. 
1682, and had four daughters; Hannah, Sarah, Susanna, and 
Ehzabeth. [He also had Peleg, and Mehitabel, twins, born 6 
Oct. 1660, who died young. Susanna married Joseph Newhall, 
son of the Tliomas who was the first white child born in Lynn, 
p* 



186 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1640. 

This Joseph settled in Lynnfield, and had eleven children ; 
among them Samuel, who was adopted by his uncle Thomas 
Farrar, who was a farmer and lived on Nahant street. Thomas 
Farrar, the elder, was familiarly called '' old Pharaoh," and was 
one of those accused of witchcrait, in 1692.] 

John Fuller — came from England, with his brother Samuel, 
in 1630, and when they arrived in Boston, " only seven huts 
were erected." After residing there several years, Samuel 
went to Scituate, and John, in 1644, came to Lynn, and settled 
at the western end of Waterhill street. He was chosen repre- 
sentative in 1655, and clerk of the writs, in 1662. He died 29 
June, 1660. The name of his wife was Elizabeth, and he had 
;live children — Lieut. John Fuller, who married Elizabeth Far- 
rington, and died 24 April, 1695 ; William ; Susanna; Elizabeth ; 
James. Several of his descendants have borne respectable offi- 
ces, and some of them remain. 

John Gillow — died in 1673. The name of h'is wife was 
Rose. He had two sons, Benjamin and Thomas. 

Zaccheus Gould — owned, at one time, the mills on Saugus 
river. He had a son Daniel. 

Nathaniel Hathoene — had two children; Ebenezer, who 
married Esther Witt, 26 Dec. 1683, and Nathaniel. 

Richard Haven — was a farmer, and lived near the Flax 
pond. [He was "40 odd" years old in 1666.] His wife Su- 
sanna, [a daughter of Thomas Newhall, senior,] died 7 Feb. 1682. 
His children ivere Hannah, born 1645 ; Mary; Joseph ; Richard ; 
Susanna; Sarah; John; Martha; Samuel; Jonathan; Nathan- 
iel ; Moses. Several of his sons were among the first settlers 
of Framingham. [A great family gathering of the descendants 
of this Lynn settler was had in Framingham, a number of years 
since, at which some fifteen hundred were present. Many emi- 
nent persons appear in the family line. E. 0. Haven, LL. D. 
president of the Michigan State University, recently informed 
me that he is a lineal descendant.] 

Joseph Hollow ay — died 29 November, 1693. He had a 
son Joseph, whose wife's name was Mary, and who had four 
children-*- Mary, born 16 April, 1675; Samuel, b. 2 Nov. 1677; 
Edward, b. 1 Feb. 1683; Juhn, b. 11 Oct. 1686. His descend- 
ants remain, and spell their name Hallowell. 

Richard Hood — came from Lynn, in England. He lived in 
Nahant street, and died 12 Sept. 1695. He had three sons; 
Richard, born 1670; Joseph, b. 8 July, 1674; Benjamin, b. 3 
Jan. 1677. His descendants remain. In those early days, a 
young man, who was inclined to indulge in the laudable custom 
of courting, went to visit a young lady of this family named 
Agnes. As he was returning, late one evening, he was over- 
heard saying to himself — "Well, so far proceeded towards 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1640. 187 

courting Agnes." This phrase became common, and has been 
introduced into an English comedy. 

Robert Howard — had a son Edward, whose wife was named 
Martha, and who had two children; Amos, born IG April, 1()9G ; 
Jane, b. 4 March, 1699. His descendants remain. 

Edward Ireson — died 4 Dec. 1675. His son Benjamin mar- 
ried Mary Leach, 1 Aug. 1680, and had a son Edward, born 9 
April, 1681. 

Thomas Keyser — was mate of a vessel which sailed from Bos- 
ton. Governor Winthrop tells a story of one of his men, who 
was whipped for stealing a gold ring, and some other articles 
from him at Portsmouth. [He sailed for Guinea, to traffic in 
slaves. And James Smith, a church member, of Boston, joined 
with him.] 

Andrew Mansfield — came from Exeter, in England, to Bos- 
ton, in 1636. He came to Lynn, in 1640. He was a farmer, 
and lived in Boston street. The neighborhood in which he 
lived was called Mansfield's End. He Avas town clerk in 1660, 
and died in 1692, aged 94. He had a son Andrew, who was 
representative in 1680, and who married Elizabeth Conant, 10 
Jan. 1681. His descendants remain. 

John Mansfield — was a tailor. He was a freeman, 1643; 
died in 1671, aged 52. 

Lady Deborah Moody — came to Lynn, in 1640. Eive years 
before, she went from one of the remote counties in England, to 
London, where she remained in opposition to a statute, which 
enjoined that no person should reside, beyond a limited time, 
from their own homes. On the 21st of April, the court of the 
star-chamber ordered, that " Dame Deborah Moodie, and the 
others, should return to their hereditaments in forty days, in 
the good example necessary to the poorer class." On the 5th 
of April, 1640, soon after her arrival at Lynn, she united with 
the church at Salem. On the 13th of May, the General Court 
granted her 400 acres of land, [" where it may not hinder a plan- 
tation nor any former grant."] In 1641, she purchased Mr. John 
Humfrey's form, "called Swampscot," for which she paid XI. 100. 
Lechford, in 1641, says, ''Lady Moody lives at Lynn, but is of 
Salem church. She is, good lady, almost undone, by buying 
Master Humphrie's farm, Swampscot." [See p. 201,] Afterward 
she became imbued with the erroneous idea that the baptism of 
infants was a sinful ordinance ; for which, and other opinions, 
she was excommunicated. In 1643, she removed to Long Island. 
Governor Winthrop says, " the Lady Moodye, a wise, and an- 
ciently religious woman, being taken with the error of denying 
baptism to infants, was dealt with by many of the elders and 
others, and admonished by the church of Salem, whereof she 
was a member ; but persisting still, and to avoid further trouble, 



188 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1640. 

she removed to the Dutch, against the advice of all her friends. 
After her arrival at Long Island, she experienced much trouble 
from the Indians, her house being assaulted by them many 
times. Her wealth enabled her to render assistance to Gov. 
Stuyvesant, of New York, in some difficulties which he encoun- 
tered in 1654 ; and so great was her influence with him, that he 
conceded the nomination of the magistrates that year to her. 
She was of a noble family, and had a son, Sir Henry Moody. 
With the exception of her troubling the church with her reli- 
gious opinions, she appears to have been a lady of great worth. 
[But was it not rather that the church troubled her and itself 
about her religious opinions ? 

[Edmund Needham. — came in 1639. He was one of the 
Long Island grantees, but does not appear to have gone with 
the settlers. He died at Lynn, in 1677. For something relating 
to his descendants, see notices of Daniel and Ezekiel Needham, 
under date 1650. His will may be found in the Salem Court 
files. It is a quaint and curious document. He was a man of 
property, and one evidently occupying no mean position in his 
own estimation. Several matters appear in the will which 
would be more appropriate in some other form of writing, and 
throughout, his piety is more conspicuous than his modesty. 
He was connected with the Harts and the Mansfields, and did 
not forget them in the distribution of his effects. He had sons 
Daniel and Ezekiel, and several daughters, by whom he became 
connected as above and likewise with the Armitages, Some 
passages from the will are here given — enough to illustrate 
certain habits of thought and peculiarities of the testator, to 
give an idea of the amount and character of a very fair estate 
for that time, and to show something of his family connections. 

The will and Last Testament of Edniund Needham of Lyn m Nu England, 
being, blessed be God, in his perfett knowledge, memory, and understanding, 
tho otherwise ill in Body, mak y*^ writin by min on [mine own] hand and ac- 
cording to min on mind to my children and grandchikken as follows, and 

First, I humbly Desire my only true God, luaker and creator of heaven, 
ye earth, the sea, and all that is therein, {{^f^ Exodus 20, 11 ; Psalms 95, 3, 4, 
5, and 146, 5, 6; Jonah 1, O,,-/^) ) 'lud me his most poor and unworthy crea- 
ture amungst ye Rest and to resone my poor and unworthy soull of his moor 
pur and only free Grace and love for ye sake of his only and well beloved son 
Jesus Christ sake alone, excluding all things of min on carnall or corrupte 
natur in or of myself, in any natur or means in all or in part to my Justifica- 
tion but to Jesus Christ alon, my only and alon mediator, advocat and intei*- 
cessor at ye throne of erase and alon propisiation for all my sLnnes. 1st 
John 2, 2. 

Next, I dcsiar and impower my son Ezekiel Needham, my true and lawful! 
executor to this my last will and Testiment, to se my body desently and Clu'is- 
tianly hurried as near my old wife, being his own mother, as may be. 

Next, I give to my son Daniell Needham, .... 

Next, I give to my sun Ezekiell Needham, .... 

Next, I give to my dafter, Hannah Dinen, and her two children, .... 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1640. 189 



Next, I give unto my sou-in-Lawe Saniuell Harts children, .... 
Next, I give to my son-in-law Joseph INIanstiekls children, .... 

And further this I ad as a codasell or hrccfe inventory to this my last will 
and testament, that my sun Ezekiell Needham, my Lawful! Executor, sliall 
not be put to any oatli or oathes at any court or any manner or intent what 
soever ; therefor I have set this according to min own valuation of my holl 
estate, and if this will not save him from any oath in court he shall safly swer 
that j' is all my holl estate, T having firmly given him as his own propar estate 
as if it had never bin min, so soon as ever y^ l)reat is out of my body, and I 
quite dead, all ye rest; I well knowing y' he cauot give any just othat w*li out 
wronging his consience, as I only know how my estate lieth and this min on 
valuation or inventory as following : First, all my housing, barn and outhousing, 
and all my lands, w'h all tlie range of ston wall fensing, £400 Od ; two holl 
peses of bales one red and ye other of y« collar of a chesnut on or to [one or 
two] and Ibrty yards apease at ye lest, £12 00 00 ; on holl peese of red [)enis- 
ton on or to and fortie yards long at ye lest, £G 00 ; 3 })arsells of Canvis now 
about on hundred yards, and other parsells of linin cfoth and Calico, £10 00 00 ; 
my silver watch and silver box and other silver cupes and spoones and othar 
plate, £15 00 00 ; My clock y* striks, and another wach and larum that dus 
not strik £5 00 OOd ; sum putai*, sum old and sum new, £2 00 OOd ; sum par- 
sells of Carsies and sum parsells of serges, and my wearing clotlies, £20 00 OOd ; 
sum pots and kettles and tramels and clothes and bedsteed, £7 00 00 ; beds and 
beding, £7 00 00 ; Debts in old England in sutRsient Bonds and most in Abell 
Mores hands as the company of ye marchant adventurers and another like it 
as a great rith citizen, fit ibr an Alderman of London, tho they do what they 
can to deseve us, y' is to say, my brothers and sisters to whom they o us about 
thi'ee thousand pounds, £000. 

£ s. d. 

400 

12 

06 

10 

15 

5 

2 

f, 26 

7 
7 
600 



1090 
and one horse y* was forgot, £ 3 

and 4 cows and two young bullock, forgot allso, £17 
and 20 sheepe, forgot allso, £ 7 



to be added to this inventory, £27 

to all with this addition is £1117 

This addition was made befox'e it was signed or sealed or confii-med by the 
witnesses. 

[The above certainly indicates that Mr. Needham occupied a 
very respectable position. And the chirography shows that he 
was by no means unskilled in the use of the pen. There are 
some interlineations, and the will closes thus: "all thes inter- 
lines were dun by me before it was signed or sealed, and y' this 
is the last will and testament of me, Edmond Needham, in lin, the 
Lin in New England."] 



190 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1640. 

Robert Rand — was a farmer, atWoodend. He died 8 Nov, 
1694. His wife Elizabeth, died 29 Aug. 1693. His children 
were Robert, Zachary, Elizabeth, and Mary, and his descendants 
remain. 

Henry Rhodes — was a farmer, and lived on the western side 
' of Saugus river. He was born in 1608, and had three sons. 
Jonathan, who died 7 April, 1677; Henry; Josiah. Th«ir de- 
scendants remain. 

John Tarbox — had two sons; John; and Samuel, who mar- 
ried Rebecca Armitage, 14 Nov, 1665, and had eighteen children. 
Samuel died 12 Sept. 1715, aged 93. His descendants remain. 
[In his will, dated 25 Nov. 1673, he says, "I bequeath unto 
every one of my sonn John Tarbox his children and my son 
Samuel's children, ofte ewe sheep a peece." See under date • 
1649, for what befel his daughter. See also under date 1674.] 

Shubael Walker, (Capt.) — was buried 24 Jan. 1689; He 
lived at the Swampscot farms. 

Thomas Welman — died in 1672. His children were Abigail, 
Isaac, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Mary. 

John Witt — died in December, 1675. His children were 
Ann, Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary, Martha, John, who married Eliza- 
beth Baker, 14 Jan. 1676, and Thomas who married Bethia 
Potter, 26 Feb. 1675. [John was great-grandfather of Thomas 
Witt, now living on North Common street, at the ripe age of 
86 — a gentleman of more than ordinary intelligence and con- 
stitutional vigor, and one who can number a large and respecta- 
ble circle of descendants. He was a son of Benjamin Witt, who 
was born in 1739 — whioh Benjamin was a son of Thomas, born 
in 1696 — which Thomas was a son of the before-named John, 
who married Elizabeth Baker. Some of the family, in other 
places, write the name DeWitt, as was the case with a late 
secretary of the commonwealth ; and they adopt that orthog- 
raphy, it is understood, on the supposition that they are de- 
scended from the DeWitts of Holland, or from a Huguenot.] 

Other inhabitants were: Andrew Allen, Theophilus Bayley, 
who died in 1694, Hugh Churchman, who died in 1644, John 
Cole, Wentworth Daniels, Daniel Fairfield, John Farring- 
TON, Henry Fitch, Thomas Gaines, Tobias Haskell, Joseph 
Howe, James Hubbard, William Hubbard, William Knight, 
Michael Lambard, Robert Mansfield, Thomas Mansfield, Mi- 
chael Mtlner, who went to Long Island in 1640, Richard 
Mower, Abraham Ottley, Adam Ottley, Edward Paine, Quen- 
tin Pray, Richard Pray, Thomas Purchis, [spoken of under date . 
1678,] Thomas Putnam, Hugh Stacey, John Stagey, George 
Taylor, William Taylor, John Tilton, William Tilton, Dan- 
iel Trumbull, Nathaniel Tyler, William Wells, Jonathan 
Witt. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1640. 191 

^[Something may be added regarding a few of the individuals 
named in this list. Those under notice will be distinguished 
by italics. 

[Amlreio Allen — married Faith, a daughter of Edmund In- 
galls. He removed to Andover, and there died, in 1690. There 
was also a George Allen here, who came in 1636, and soon after 
removed to Sandwich. His house, built in 1616, Savage re- 
marks, (1860), is said to be still in good repair, and occupied. 

[Hugh Chnvchman. Of this individual little is known. He 
was, no doubt, the same person alluded to in the presentation 
to the Salem Court, 27 May, 1643 : '' Wee present oulde Cliurch- 
raan for liveing 7 or 8 yeares without his wife ; and for haveing 
the wife of Hugh Burt locked with him alone in his house. Wit- 
ness, Joseph fflood, Jarrard Spenser." And again: " Ould Church- 
man for living 7 or 8 yeares without his'wyff, unless he bring 
unto M'" Endecot, our dep*y Gov' a certificat f' M"" Dumer, y* he 
hath used meanes for his wyfs comeing, and then he is discharg- 
ed." Churchman left a will, which was probated in 1644. Hugh 
Burt and Robert Driver were appraisers. The amount of his 
estate was X24.9.11. 

[Daniel Fairfield, was the abandoned fellow, who, with Jen- 
kin Davis and John Hudson, so abused the little daughters of 
Mr. Humfrey. He was sentenced to a severe, though well- 
merited punishment. He was ordered, on the fourteenth of 
June, 1642, to be whipped, have his nostrils slit and seared, and 
be " confined to Boston neck, so as if hee bee found at any 
time dureing his life to go out of Boston neck, that is, beyond 
the rayles towards Roxberry, or beyond the low water marke 
hee shalbee put to death upon due conviction thereof; and hee 
is also to weare a hempen roape about his neck, the end of it 
hanging out two foote at least, and so often as he shalbee found 
abroad w*''out it, hee shalbee whiped . . . and hee is to pay 
M"^ Humfrey forty pounds." A year or two after, however, he 
was " alowed to go to work w*''in any part of Boston lymits, 
both in the ilands and elsewhere, and also at Roxberry, so as 
hee go not above five miles from Boston meeting house." And 
by the Court, 2 May, 1649, on the petition of Elizabeth, his wife, 
leave was granted for " her husband, shee and their children, 
to depart out of this iurisdiction unto such other parts of the 
world as it shall please God to dispose ; pvided that her husband 
shall be under his former censure if hee returne hith"" againe." 
But they do not appear to have availed themselves of this lib- 
erty to depart ; or if they did, they must have soon retui-ned, 
for on 27 May, 1652, the Court, on another petition of the wife, 
give him leave to "lay the rope aside." Finallj'-, 14 Oct. 1656, 
the Court granted him liberty " to goe in one of theire shipps, 
to England, as he desires." He had lived in Lynn but a short 



192 i.NKAL3 OF LYNN — 1640. 

time, when he committed the abominable oiience. See Colony 
Records, vol. ii. ; also notice of Jeukin Davis, under date 1635. 
The John Hudson alluded to as a partner in guilt with Fairfield 
and Davis, is mentioned by Winthrop as an unworthy servant 
of Mr. Humfrey. 

[Nathaniel Tyler, does not seem to have remained in Lynn 
many years after this date. By a record on page 20 of the first 
book of the Essex Registry, it appears that he and his wife Jane 
sold " unto Philip Kirtland, shoemaker," all their '' lands and 
houses, with their appurtenances, in Lynn/' by deed dated 1 
Oct., 1652. And on the 16th of the same month, he made a 
will, dated at Boston, being then about to embark on board the 
ship New England Merchant, " and because our lives are ficle 
and mortall, and dangers at sea are many." In this will he men- 
tions his wife Jane, his son Joseph, and his sister Jane Sanford, 
wife of Edward Sanford, living in London. 

[ William Wells is thought to be the person who was " eujoyn- 
ed in lOZ." by the Court, 7 Sept., 1641, to answer "for oppres- 
sion." But little concerning him can be gathered. He seems 
to have been one of the Long Island settlers. 

[Jonathan Witt, may have been of the family of John Witt who 
was under notice a few paragraphs back, and the one who mar- 
ried Mary Dinan, 23 March, 1663. He had one child, Esther, 
born 5 Feb., 1665. And he died during the latter year. Oliver 
Purchis was one of the appraisers of his estate, which was 
small.] 

In the short space of ten years from its settlement, we have 
seen six other towns deriving their origin from Lynn ; yet the 
place continued to abound with inhabitants, and this year beheld 
the commencement of the seventh. About forty families, ''find- 
ing themselves straightened," left the town with the design of 
settling a new plantation. They invited Mr. Abraham Pierson, 
of Boston, to become their minister, who, with seven of the emi- 
grants, entered into a church covenant, before they left Lynn. 
[Hugh Peters was present at the formation of the church.] 
They sailed in a vessel commanded by Capt. Daniel Howe, to 
Scout's Bay, in the western part of Long Island, Avhere they 
purchased land of Mr. James Forrett, agent of Lord Stirling, and 
agreed with the Indians for their right. On receiving informa- 
tion of this, the Dutch laid claim to that part of the island, on 
account of a previous purchase of the Indians, and sent men to 
take possession, who set up the arms of the Prince of Orange 
on a tree. The Lynn people, disregarding the claims of the 
Dutch, cut down the trees and began to build. Capt. Howe, 
likewise took down the Prince's arms, and instead thereof an 
Indian drew a very " undhandsome face." This conduct highly 
incensed the Dutch governor, William Kieft, whom Mr. Irving, 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G40. 193 

in one of his buraorous works, has characterized by the appella- 
tion of " William the Testy," but whom Mr. Hubbard denomi- 
nates " a discreet man," who, on the 13th of May, sent Cornelius 
Van Ten Hov^en, the secretary, the under-sheriff, a sergeant, and 
twenty-five soldiers, to break up the settlement. They found 
eight men, with a woman and an infant, \s ho had erected one 
cottage, and were engaged in building another. They took six 
of the men, whose names were John Farrington, William Ilar- 
cher, Philip Kertland, Nathaniel Kertland, Job Sayre, and George 
Wells, and brought them before the governor. These he exam- 
ined on oath, and then put them in prison, where they remained 
while he wrote a Latin letter to the governor of Massachusetts. 
To this Mr. Winthrop replied, in the san^e language, that he 
would neither maintain the Lynn people in an unjust action, nor 
suffer them to be injured. On the reception of this reply, the 
Dutch governor liberated the men, after they had signed an 
agreement to leave the place. They accordingly removed more 
than eighty miles, to the eastern part of the island, where they 
purchased land of the Indians, and planted a town, which, in 
remembrance of the place from which they sailed, in England, 
they called Southampton. 

[It was evidently expected, from the character of many of 
those engaged in the Long Island enterprise, and -from their 
stipulations, that the settlement should be one of importance, 
and not an inconsiderable and straitened little community. The 
agreement with Captain Howe required that the vessel should 
be " reddy at the Towne of Lynne to transport such goods as 
the aforesaid undertakers shall appoint ; that is to say, three 
tymes in the yeare." And they furthermore "thought good to 
express the tymes, viz: the first moneth, the fourth moneth, and 
the eighth moneth " — March, June, and October. A fcAv of the 
general stipulations will be here given, for the purpose of illus- 
trating their ideas of the formation and government of a new 
plantation. From some of the points, it might be imagined 
that they fancied themselves founding an independent common- 
wealth. 

" Furthermore, because delaying to lay out the bounds of townes and all 
such lande within the said bounds, hath bene generally the ruin of Townes in 
this Countiy, therefore wee, the said undertakers, have thought goode to take 
upon us the dispose of all landes within our said Ijoundes soe that that which 
wee lay out for a house lott shall at all tymes from tymc to tyme hereafter 
continue to be a house lott, and but one dwellinge house shall be builded upon 
it ; and those lottos that we lay out for planteing lotts shall not at any tynie nor 
tymes hereafter be made house lotts, whereby more uihabitants might be 
receaved into our Piantacon to the over chargeing of commons and the im- 
poverishinge of the towne ; and that alsoe what is layd out for common ; and 
uoe man shall p'^sume to incroach upon it, not soe much as a hands breadth. 
Whatsoever wee lay out for I'armes, shall remain so after tyme ; and y" dispose 
of all such landes so laycd out shall alsoe be at all tymes and from tyme to 

Q 13 



\- 



194 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1640. 

tyme accordina^ to the will and pleasure of us, the said undertakers, our exec- 
utors, administrators, and assigns, namely," — at this point the manuscript 
record is so injured as to render some words illegible ; but the substance is, 
that whoever disposes of his estate, shall not subdivide it, but shall sell " house 
lott ;ind plautiuge lott or lotts, and meddow, intirely, and if hee sell his farme 
liee shall not divide it, but sell it together, viz : his ftarm intirely and his ac- 
commodations in y« towne, intirely. Moreover, whosoever cometh in by us 
hould hhnself sattisfyed with foure achores to an house lott, and twelve achores 
to a plantinge lott, and so much meddow and upland as may make his accom- 
modation fitly achoi-s, except wee, the said undertakers, shall see cause to 
inlarge that proportion by a farme or otherwise. Furthermore, noe person 
whatsoever shall challenge or claime any proper interest in seas, rivers, creeks, 
or brookes, howsoever boundiuge or passinge through his gi-ounde ; but ffree- 
dome of fishinge, fowliuge, and navigation, shall be common to all within the 
bankes of the said waters, whatsoever." 

[The requirements, generally, were rigid, and strongly ex- 
pressed. But they closed in the following pious and liberal 
strain : 

" Lastly, wee, the said undertakers, testify by these presents in our admit- 
tinge of inhabitants to our intended Plantacon that wee, without any kind of 
resei"vation leave euery man fFree to choose and determine all causes and con- 
troverseys arbitrary among themselves, and tiiat whensoever it shall please the 
Lord, and he shall see it good to adde to us such men as shall bee fitt matter 
for a church, that then wee will, in that time, lay ourselves doune before y® 
constitutes thereof either to bee or not to be receaved as members thereof, 
according as-they shall discerne the work of God to be in our hearts." 

[The articles were signed by John Cooper, Edward Howell, 
Edmund Needhara, Josiah Stanbury, Henry Walton, Allen Breed, 
William Hardier, Thomas Newhall, John Farrington, Richard 
Yatt, Edmund Farrington, Thomas Sayre, Daniel Howe, Job 
Sayre, George Webb, Thomas Halsye, Philip Kertland, Nathan- 
iel Kertland, Thomas Fadington, Thomas Terry. Almost every 
one of these names is familiar to those who are versed in the early 
history of Lynn. Two or three signed b}^ their marks ; but 
from their names being signed in full in other places, it seems 
probable that they made their marks on this solemn occasion, 
because they deemed them more dignified or ornamental. There 
is a supplementary declaration which contains one or two mat- 
ters that may facilitate an understanding of the spirit which 
moved in the enterprise : 

" Know all men whome these presents may consern y* whereas it is ex- 
pressed in our Articles that- the power of disposinge of lands and admission 
of Inhabitants into our Plantacon shall at all tymes remaine in the hands of us 
the said undertakers, to us and our heirs forever, our true intent and meane- 
inge is, that when oiu- plantation is laid out by those appointed according to 
our Articles, and that there shall be a church gathered and constituted accord- 
inge to the minde of Clirist, that then wee doe ffreely lay down our power, 
both in orderinge and disposeinge of the plantacon and receaving of Inhabit- 
ants, or any other things that may tende to the goode and welfare of ye place, 
at the ffeete of Christ and his church — provided tliat they shall not doe any 
tliuig contraiy to the true meaneinge of the fformer articles." 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 16-40. 195 

[The probable meauing of this is uot well expressed. It 
seems to say that Christ and his church may manage the affairs 
of the colony provided they do so according to " the fformer 
articles." ^ But the intent doubtless was simply to confirm that 
sort of union of church and state which existed in Massachusetts. 

[Mr. Lewis's brief allusion to the perils which surrounded 
the first of the Long Island settlers, is perhaps sufficient for 
the purpose. And one or two items, giving glimpses of their 
situation, are all that need be added. The Court — as it was 
called, though in reality but a general town meeting — ordered, 
29 Oct., 1645, that the inhabitants should be relieved from the 
practice of taking their arms to the meeting-house on the Lord's 
day, from the first of November to the first of March ensuing. 
And on 25 January, 1655, it was ordered that no one should 
sell strong liquors within the bounds of 'the town, excepting 
"our neighbor John Cooper;" and he was not to sell to any 
Indian, nor to anj^ but those who would use them properly, xind 
he was prohibited from selling more than three ankers — about 
a hundred gallons — a year; a third part being for the people 
of the North Sea, so called, a small settlement three miles from 
the village of Southampton. It will be well for the reader to 
bear in mind that some of the Lynn men who joined in the 
Long Island enterprise did not remove there, and some who 
did, returned in a short time. (See an article communicated by 
G. R. Howell, of Southampton, — and probably a descendant from 
Edward Howell, who was among the first who went from Lynn — 
in N. E. Historical and Genealogical Register, 1861.) 

[The Rev. Abraham Pierson, who went with the Long Island 
colony, as their minister, and who was a man of excellent edu- 
cation, and unstained character, I had not supposed wag ever a 
resident of Lynn. And Mr. Lewis states that he was of Boston ; 
yet Savage gives him a son Abraham, born at Lynn, who grad- 
uated at Harvard, in 1668. Mr. Pierson left Long Island, about 
1647, and went to Branford, Ct., it having become necessary to 
divide the church, and his removal being approved hy a council. 
Twenty years after the last date we find him at Newark, N. J. 
His son Abraham was settled as his colleague, at Newark, in 
1672. In 1692, the son went to Connecticut, and in 1701 waa 
made the first president of Yale College, in which office he 
remained till his death, in 1707. The Southampton church was, 
of course, constituted according to the Congregational order ; 
but it became Presbyterian. In 1716, the Presbytery of Long 
Island was set off from the Philadelphia Presbytery, and organ- 
ized at Southampton, 17 April, 1717, being the first Presbytery 
in the state of New York.^ It was in 1640 that the Southampton 
settlers erected their first' church edifice ; the second was built 
in 1651, and the third in 1707. The last one is still standing. 



196 ANNALS OF LYNN— 1G40. 

A fourth, however, was erected in 1843. The colony placed 
themselves under the jurisdiction of Hartford, in 1644, but con- 
tinued very much in the way of a pure democracy. " The gov- 
ernment of the town was vested in the people. They assembled 
at their town meetings, had all power and all authority. They 
elected town officers, constituted courts, allotted lands, made 
laws, tried difficult and important cases, and from their decision 
there was no appeal. The Town Meeting, or General Court, as 
it was sometimes called, met once a month. Every freeholder 
was required to be present at its meetings and take a part in 
the burdens of government. All delinquents were fined for 
non-attendance at each meeting."] 

Dr. P. S. Townsend, of New York, says the people of Lynn 
also settled five other towns on Long Island ; Flushing, Graves- 
end, Jamaica, Hempstead, and Oyster Bay. 

At the Court, on the 13th of May, William Hathorne, Samuel 
Symonds, and Timothy Tomlins, were appointed to lay out " the 
nearest, cheapest, safest, and most convenient way," between 
Lynn and Winnisimet ferry. 

Lynn Village, now South Reading, was ordered to be exempt- 
ed from taxes, for two years, as soon as seven houses should be 
built, and seven families settled. 

William Hathorne and Timothy Tomlins, having been ap- 
pointed to lay out the bounds of the town of Lynn, made report, 
on the 4th of June, that they had fixed the bounds at Charles- 
town line, Reading pond, Ipswich river, and Salem. 

[It appears by the Suffolk Records, that Thomas Dexter this 
year mortgaged lands in Lynn, to Humfrey Hooke, an alderman 
of the city of Bristol, and others. 

[At the September Court, Salem, an action for defamation, 
Timothy Tomlins, of Lynn, against John Pickering was tried, 
and the jury found "that y* said John Pickering shall not only 
pay fforty shillings damage and ffower shillings coste, but y* in 
some publik meeting at Lynn, before next Courte, the said Jno. 
Pickering shall publiklie acknowledge the wronge done y® s** 
Tomlins, or else shall pay and make his fi'orty shillings Tenn 
pounds." 

[A good many goats were kept in this vicinity in the early 
days of the colony. Josselyn says they were " the first small 
cattle they had in the countrey ; he was counted no body, that 
had not a trip or flock of goats."] 

The Court ordered that grain should be received as a lawful 
payment for debts ; Indian corn at 5s., rye at 6s. 8d., and wheat 
at 7s. a bushel. The price of a cow was X5. 

Richard Sadler was appointed clerk of the writs. 
Mr. Humfrey's barn, Nahant street, with all his corn and hay, 
to the value of one hundred and sixty pounds, was burned by 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1641. / 197 

the carelessness of his servant;, Henry Stevens, in setting fire 
to some gunpowder. At the Court of Assistants, on the first 
of November, " Henry Stevens, for firing the barn of his master, 
Mr. Jolm Hurafrey, he was ordered to be servant to Mr. Hum- 
frey, for 21 years from this day, towards recompensing him." 
The Court afterward allowed Mr. Humfrey for his loss and his 
good services, £250. 

There was one woman in the town, at this time, who contended 
that all things ought to be common, as at one time among the 
early Christians ; but she found it difficult to persuade the peo- 
ple that she had as good a right to their property as themselves. 
She went ''from house to house," helping herself to such little 
accommodations as she wished, till her demands became so ex- 
travagant, that she was brought before the Quarterly Court, at 
Salem. On the 29th of September, the following record was 
made. " Mary Bowdwell, of Lyn, for her exorbitancy, not work- 
ing, but liveing idly, and stealing, and taking away other victuals, 
pretending communitie of all things: The court sentence that 
she shall be whipped ; but throwe their clemency she was only 
admonished, and respited till next courte." 

[It was this year voted that Lynn meeting-house be permitted 
to be used for a watch-house.] 

This year a new version of the Psalms was made for public 
worship. It was an octavo volume of 400 pages, and was the 
first book printed in America. The following is a specimen 
of the poetry, from Psalm 44. 

Our eares have heard our fathers tell 

and reverently record 
The wondrous workes that thou hast done 

m olden time, O Lord. 

How thou didst cast the Gentiles out 

and stroid them with strong hand ; 
Planting our fathers in their place 

and gavest to them then* land. 

They conquered not by sword nor strength, 

the land of thy behest, 
But by thy hand, thy arm, thy grace, 

because thou louedst them best." 

1641. 

Lord Say, having an intention of forming a plantation at New 
Providence, one of the Bahama Islands, had engaged Mr. Hum- 
frey in the design, with the promise of making him governor 
of the new colony. Some of the Lynn people had determined 
to accompany him; but the intention was frustrated by the 
Island filling, for a time, under the government of Spain. 

Mr. John Humfrey was a native of Dorchester, in Dorsetshire, 
England, a lawyer, and a man of considerable wealth and good 
Q* 



198 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1641. 

reputation. He married Susan, the second daughter of Thomas, 
Earl of Lincoln, and sister of Frances, the wife of Mr. John 
Gorges, and of Arabella, the wife of Mr. Isaac Johnson. He 
was one of the most influential in promoting the settlement of 
the colony, and the people of Massachusetts will ever regard 
him as one of their earliest and most efficient benefactors. He 
was one of the original patentees of the colony, and the treas- 
urer of the company at Plymouth, in England ; and by his 
exertions many donations were obtained, and many persons, 
among whom were some of the ministers, were induced to emi- 
grate. He was chosen Deputy Governor in 1630, and Assistant 
in 1632, both before his arrival; and such was the respect in 
which he was held, that when the formulary for the constituting 
of freemen was in debate, an exception was made in favor of 
*' the old planters and Mr. Humfrey." He arrived at Lynn, in 
1634, received several liberal grants from the Court, and fixed 
his residence at his farm. In discharging the duties of an 
Assistant in the general government, he devoted his time and 
energies for seven years to the service of the state, and seems 
not to have been surpassed in devotedness to her welfare. He 
became a member of the Artillery Company, in 1640 ; and in 
June, 1641, was appointed to the command of all the militia in 
the county, with the title of Sergeant Major General. But with 
all his honors and possessions, a shade of dissatisfaction had 
spread itself over his prospects, which his numerous misfortunes 
contributed to darken. The disappointment of the Bahamas must 
have been severely felt by a mind so ambitious of honor as his 
appears to have been ; and it is not improbable that he experi- 
enced a secret chagrin at seeing the young and uninformed 
Henry Vane promoted to the office of governor, above one 
whose years, knowledge, and services, entitled him to prece- 
dence. [Vane was young, but could he have been called unin- 
formed?] It is probable, likewise, that his affection for his 
wife, whose hopes were in the land of her nativity, had some 
influence in determining his conduct. Living so far removed 
from the elegant circles in which she had delighted, and having 
lost the sister who might have been the companion of her soli- 
tude, the Lady Susan was weary of the privations of the wilder- 
ness, the howling of the wild beasts, and the uncouth manners 
of the savages, and had become lonely, disconsolate, and home- 
sick. She who had been the delight of her father's house, and 
had glittered in all the pride of youth and beauty, in the court 
of the first monarch in Europe, was now solitary and sad, sepa- 
rated by a wide ocean from her father's home. The future 
greatness of America, which was then uncertain and ideal, pre- 
sented no inducement to her mind to counterbalance the losses 
which were first to be endured j and the cold and barren wilder- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G41. 199 

ness she dwelt in, populated by*its few lonely cottages, round 
which the Indians were roaming by day, and the wolves making 
their nightly excursions, had nothing lovely to offer to soothe 
her sorrows or elevate her hopes. What the misfortunes and 
disappointments of Mr. Humfrey had begun, her importunities 
completed. He sold the principal part of his farm to Lady 
Moody, and returned to England with his wife, on the 26th 
of October. They were much censured-for leaving their chil- 
; dren, but their intention of visiting the Bahamas, and the ap- 
proaching inclemency of the season, rendered it imprudent ta 
take them, and they undoubtedly intended to return or send 
for them. That Mr. Humfrey possessed deep sympathies, his 
letters- ..sufficiently evince; and it would be extremely unchari- 
table to suppose that the Lady Susan was wUhout the endow- 
ments of maternal love. A woman of high feelings and keen 
sensibilities, the daughter of an English Earl, and according to 
Mr. Mather's own account, of " the best family of any nobleman 
then in England" — it cannot be supposed that she was desti- 
tute of those affections which form the characteristic charm of 
her sex. The emotions of the heart are not always regulated 
by rule, and disappointment sometimes makes sad havoc with 
the best feeliusrs of our nature. 



^&'^ 



'T is thus with the dreams of the high heaving heart, 
The come but to blaze, aud they blaze to depart ; 
Tlieir gossamer wings are too tliin to abide 
The chilling of soitow, the burning of pride ; 
They come but to brush o'er its young gallant swell, 
Like bright bu'ds over ocean, but never to dwell. 

John Neal. 

[It is true, as Mr. LeAvis remarks, that *' disappointment some- 
times makes sad havoc with the best feelings of our nature." 
Yet there are many who possess that invincible resignation, the 
offspring of a true and lively faith, which enables them to meet 
disappointment and disaster with a heroism that saves from all 
such sorrowful results. And the sympathies and affections of 
the heart are not confined to any class. The " daughter of an 
English Earl," may not be, as to them, more liberally endowed 
than the daughter in the lowly cot. Wliat a terrible example 
to the point do we find revealed in Johnson's Life of Savage.] 

The misfortunes which afterward befell some of the children, 
inflicted a wound on the heart of the affectionate father, from 
which he never recovered. In a letter to Governor Winthrop, 
dated 4th September, 1646, he says: "It is true the want of 
that lost occasion, the loss of all I had in the world, doth, upon 
rubbings of that irreparable blow, sometimes a little trouble me ; 
but in no respect equal to this, that I see my hopes and possi- 
bilities of ever enioying those I did or was willing to suffer any 



200 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1641. 

thing for, utterly taken away. 'But by what intermediate hand 
Boever this has befallen me, whose neglects and imkindness 
God I hope will mind them for their good, yet I desire to look 
at his hand for good I doubt not to me, though I do not so fully 
see which way it may work. Sir, I thank you, again and again, 
and that in sincerity, for any fruits of your goodness to me and 
mine ; and for any thing contrary, I bless his name, I labor to 
forget, and desire him to pardon." [Certain distressing calam- 
ities that befell the daughters of Mr. Humfrey, are alluded to 
elsewhere. See notices of Jenkin Davis, under date 1635, and 
Daniel Fairfield, under 1640.] Mr Humfrey died in 1661, and 
in the same year, his administrators, Joseph Humfrey and Ed- 
mund Batter, claimed the five hundred acres of land " by a 
pond of fresh wat^r," in Lynnfield, which had been given him 
by the Court. The character of Mr. Humfrey has been draAvn 
with conciseness by Governor Winthrop, who represents him 
to have been *' a gentleman of special parts of learning and 
activity, and a godly man." His children were John, Joseph, 
Theophilus, Ann, Sarah, and Dorcas. Ann married William 
Palmer, of Ardfinan, Ireland, and afterward the Rev. John Miles, 
of Swanzey. I have in my possession a deed signed by her, and 
sealed witli the arms of the house of Lincoln. 

Mr. Humfrey appears to have owned nearly all the lands 
,from Sagamore Hill to Forest river. His house was near the 
■eastern end of Humfrey's beach, and his place there was called 
the Swampscot Farm. His lands were chiefly disposed of in 
1681, when his daughter Ann sold ten acres to William Bassett, 
jr., and twenty acres with a house in Nahant street to Richard 
Hood. Robert Ingalls bought nine acres of the farm at Swamps- 
cot for two hundred and eighty pounds, and Richard Johnson 
had sixty acres of salt marsh for thirty pounds. The wind-mill 
at Sagainore Hill was valued at sixty pounds. The whole of 
Mr. Humfrey's lands, at Swampscot, were about thirteen hun- 
dred acres, besides five hundred at Lynnfield. In 1685, we find 
that Daniel King, senior, having bought four hundred acres of 
this land, mortgages the same to widow Elizabeth Curwin of 
Salem. He afterward married her, and thus secured it; but in 
1690 it was again mortgaged to Benjamin Brown, of Salem. In 
1693, March 20, it was sold by Elizabeth and Daniel King to 
Walter Phillips and John Phillips, ancestors of the numerous 
and respectable fiimily of Phillips. [Mr. Lewis is in error here. 
This Elizabeth Curwin was still living as the widow of Captain 
George Curwin, in 1694, as appears by public records. See 
something further, under date 1650.] This tract of four hun- 
dred acres is mentioned as beginning at the farther end of the 
beach beyond Fishing Point, and extending to the west end 
of the Long Pond. Another description of this same four hun- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1641. 201 

dred acres, makes it extend to Beaver Brook, which is the little 
stream next eastward of Phillips's Pond, and runs out at the 
bounds between Lynn and Salem. [It may be mentioned, in 
passing, that there is another little stream, bearing the name 
Beaver Brook, in the western part of Lynn, It crosses Walnut 
street and flows through the low lands in the rear of the alms- 
bouse, to Saugus river.] Henry Mayo bought Fishing Point, 
which is the point next east of Swampscot, which he sold, 10 
March, 169G, to Walter Phillips, for £140. Mr. Humfrey's 
house, and the land adjacent, was bought by Hon. Ebenezer 
Burrill, in whose family it renaained until 1797, when it was 
bought by Robert Hooper of Marblehead. In 1842, his daughter 
Hannah, widow of ilon. William Reed, sold it to Enoch Reding- 
ton Mudge, Esq., who built, near the old house, a beautiful 
Gothic stone cottage, worthy of the olden time. 

[There is, however, without doubt an essential error in loca- 
ting Mr. Humfrey at Swampscot. As remarked on page 147, 
he had lands there, but I have now no doubt that his place of 
residence was on the east side of Nahant street. My attention 
was first drawn to the point by Mr. Josiah M. Nichols, who 
has spent much time in examining the old records; and sub- 
sequent investigation furnished what falls little short of conclu- 
sive evidence. It is certain that he had a house on Nahant 
street, and that his adjacent lands were known as his farm. 
I find in no deed, will, or inventory evidence that he had a 
house at Swampscot; and is it probable that during his brief 
sojourn here, he would have erected more than one? Lechford 
speaks of his farm Swampscot; not his farm at or in Swamp- 
scot. And it may have been only a name by which his estate 
at Nahant street was distinguished, a name which was afterward 
applied to the territory now known as Swampscot, where he had 
a large tract of wild land. Mr. Lewis, indeed, says that Swamp- 
scot was the Indian name of the place now so called ; but he 
gives no authority. No doubt the name is Indian ; but it is 
very questionable whether, if it was thus territorially applied 
at all, at that time, it did not, in a loose way, touch any of the 
coast lands, from the east shore of Lynn harbor, or Beach 
street, to the Salem line. There is much reason for the belief 
that the old house which many will remember as the Samuel 
Newhall house, and which had previously been known as the 
Hood house, which stood on the east side of Nahant street, 
between Baltimore and Ocean, was the identical one in Avhich 
Mr. Humfrey lived, the one in which Lady Deborah Moody 
dwelt, and the one which Mr. Humfrey's daughter Ann, in 1681 
sold to Richard Hood, as stated on page 200. 

[By a careful examination of the descriptions of Mr. Hum- 
frey's lands it does not appear that his bounds included the 



202 ANNALS OF LYNN— 1641. 

site of Mr. Mudge's residence. But that the old Farm House, 
which still stands on the beautiful grounds and is now owned 
by Miss Fanny 0. Mudge, was owned and occupied by Hon. 
Ebenezer Burrill, there is no doubt. The estate was willed to 
him by his father, John Burrill, who lived at Tower Hill. 
Indeed, he could not have bought it, as Mr. Lewis appears 
to have supposed, of Mr. Humfrey's daughter Ann, about the 
year 1681, for he was not then three years old. It is not easy 
to determine when the house was built, and hence its age cannot 
be stated. But it is a venerable and most interesting relic, and 
can quite well afford to dispense with a few of the honors with 
which it lias heretofore been invested. It stands a few rods east 
of Mr. Mudge's picturesque villa and occupies a site that seems 
to have been chosen for security against the most disagreeable 
winds. Hon. Ebenezer Burrill, of whom a biograpiiical sketch 
may be found by turning to page 492, died in 1761, and was 
succeeded in the property by his son Samuel, who was born in 
1717, and, like his father, became a man of note — was a Repre- 
sentative during the Revolution — was a member of the Conven- 
tion for forming the State Constitution — and became the envied 
proprietor of the first chaise that appeared in the vicinity, 
eliciting much curious observation as he rode down to meeting. 
He died in 1797, and the premises were sold to Mr. Hooper, as 
stated by Mr. Lewis. Repairs and alterations have been made 
about the house, from time to time, and the exterior is modern- 
ized by adding a piazza. The second story projected over the 
first, and the gable ends, in their turn, projected over the sec- 
ond. The noble elm, in front, which dispensed its refreshing 
shade fov sporting children who long since became grandfathers 
and grandmothers, and departed in the great procession that 
returns not, still extends its inviting arms, invested with the 
dignity of age and the vigor of youth. It was planted there 
in or about the year 1740. It is a matter of congratulation that 
the estate has fallen into the hands of one who can appreciate 
such a relic. And may the day be far distant when the Vandal 
hand of uncultivated Improvement shall be uplifted against it. 
[Around such venerable relics as this old Farm House, cluster 
memories of the deepest interest, even though their earlier his- 
tories should be deep in the oblivion of the past; for we know 
that as they were human habitations, within them must have 
transpired the common events of human life — that misfortune 
must have come to baptize in sorrow, and that other days 
must have found hearts overflowing with joy — that again and 
again with the tide of years, must have come those ever-occur- 
ring incidents, the birth, the bridal, and the yielding up of life. 
No human habitation, indeed, is without its sorrows, nor, blessed 
be God, without its joys.] 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G42. 203 

[Edward Tomlins, having been arraigneu for expresf5ing opin- 
ions against singing in the churches, wa3 discharged, 1 June, 
he having retracted.] 

In the early part of this year, says Governor "Winthrop, " a 
goodly maid of the church of Linne, going in a deep snow from 
Meadford homeward, was lost, and some of her clothes found 
after among the rocks." 

1642. 

A great alarm was occasioned through the colony by a report 
that the Indians intended to exterminate the English. The 
people were ordered to keep a watch from sunset to sunrise, 
and blacksmiths were directed to suspend all other business 
till the arms of the colony were repaired. A house was built 
for the soldiers, and another, about forty feet long, for a safe 
retreat for the women and children of the town, in case of an 
attack from the Indians. These houses were within the limits 
of Saugus, about eighty rods from the eastern boundary, and 
about the same distance south of Walnut street. The cellars 
of both these buildings remain, and near them, on the east, is a 
fine unfailing spring. 

At the Salem Court, 12 July, George Sagamore and Edward, 
alias Ned, sued Francis Lightfoot for land. The case was refer- 
red to the Boston court. 

[The Court ordered, 27 Sept., ''for the better direction of the 
watch and alarums," and for general safety, in addition to what 
was called the '' county alarum," as follows : " One musket 
discharged shalbee an alarum to all the sentinels at the several! 
quarters of each towne, who shall answere the said alarum, not 
by shooting of any more peeces, but by going to and awakening 
the sev''all houses w*''in their quarfs, by crying, Arme ! arme ! 
Thus the towne being raised, if danger appear, it shalbee in the 
discretion of the cheife office's either to strengthen their seVall 
quarters, as they shall see occasion, or else to give alarum to 
the whole country. It is left to the discretion of the cheife 
officers of every towne to appoint the most convenient quarters 
or randevous where to set sentinels or Co'^ts of garde." 

[The Court made an order that every house in the several 
towns should aid in the " breeding of salt peeter." Sergeant 
Tomlins was appointed to see that the order was enforced in 
Lynn. 

[On the 12th of November, there was a very great storm. 
The tide rose higher than at any time before since the settle- 
ment began.] 

Governor Dudley, in a letter to his son in England, dated 
November 28, remarks, "There is a want of school-masters 
hereabouts." 



204 ANNi'*JS OF LYNN.— 1642. 

At the QuarterlyT'lJourt, December 14, "The Lady Deborah 
Moodie, Mrs. King, -nd the wife of John Tillton, were present- 
ed, for houldinge that the baptising of Infants is noe ordinance 
of God." 

The winter was exceedingly cold, with deep snow, and the 
harbor was passa ')le with teams for five weeks. The Indians 
said that the weather had not been so cold for forty years. 
[Johnson says that when the ice thawed it removed rocks of 
above a ton weight, and brought them ashore.] 

Iron ore was discovered in Lynn at a very early period, but 
no attempt was made to work it until the year 1643. It is of 
the kind called bog iron, and was found in large quantities in 
various places within a mile or two from the meeting-house, 
where it still exists. The great want in the country of iron 
tools and iron Avare, induced several enterprising gentlemen 
to attempt the establishment of a forge. Among the principal 
of these were Thomas Dexter and Robert Bridges. Mr. Dex- 
ter was a very active and energetic man, foremost in every 
public enterprise ; and his greatest fault appears to have con- 
sisted in speaking somewhat too freely of the government, 
because they did not keep up with his plans of improvement. 
The character of Hon. Robert Bridges has been given by 
Johnson, in a few words : "He was endued with able parts, 
and forward to improve them to the glory of God and his peo- 
ple's good." 

[It is not possible to avoid the conclusion that Mr. Dexter 
had serious faults, and that he must have been an uncomfortable 
neighbor. He possessed an irritable disposition and was pro- 
voking in his bearing toward such as stood in any way antago- 
nistic to him. And that he had an inveterate propensity for 
the law is abundantly proved by the court records. Mr. Lewis 
mentions two or three instances of his being dealt with for 
misdemeanors more grave than that of sleeping in meeting. 
See under dates 1631, 1633 and 1646. And besides what Mr. 
Lewis has noticed it is found that in 1633 he was fined twenty 
shillings for drunkenness; also, 3 July, 1632, it was ordered 
that he be "bound to his good behav'" till the nexte Genall 
Court, and flSned \l. for his midemean"" and insolent carriage and 
speeches to S : Bradstreete, att his owne howse ; also att the 
Genall Courte, is bound to confesse his fault." At the Court in 
November, however, 4Z. of the fine were remitted. There is 
some amusing romance about his having purchased Nahant of 
an Indian chief, for a suit of clothes; and Mr. Lewis thought 
proper to add an attractive gloss by a lithographic representa- 
tion. But it is clear that the transaction was not generally 
deemed to have been a fair one ; and it was judicially adjudged 
invalid. That he was active and enterprising, there is no doubt ; 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1042. 205 

and men so characterized never pass lives of obscurity. But 
we fail to perceive that he possessed those higher qualities 
necessary to entitle him to be ranked among the most useful 
class of citizens. He was never a representative, and seems 
seldom to have been called to any public office. This proves 
little, to be sure, for it may have been then, as it now is, that 
the most worthy are not generally found in those positions, 
which are the cravings of the ambitious and selfish; though 
there is much reason to believe that there was far more political 
principle in those days than there is in these. And it is signifi- 
cant that the title of ''M""" was not awarded him. Pie was 
known simply as " goodman." Mr. Lewis, indeed, says that he 
"was called, ^by way of excellence, 'Farmer Dexter.'" But 
it is most likely that the title was bestowed merely on account 
of his occupation. His enterprises certainly seem to have had 
no higher incentive than personal interest. And there are many 
like him, in every community, at this day, whom it is fashionable 
to laud and magnify as sincere and devoted public benefactors. 
There are, however, descendants of Mr. Dexter, in New Eng- 
land, of prominence and great worth. Rev. Henry M. Dexter, 
of Boston, may be named as 

among them. A fac-simile of ^ r /> ^^ UaH^^ 

the signature of our famous old ^2?^<*-^ ^^i^-Q^-^^?^ 
settler is here given. It was ^ ,^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 

traced from a document bear- ° 

ing date 1657.] 

This year Mr. Bridges took some specimens of the iron ore 
from the mines in Saugus, and went to London, where he suc- 
ceeded in forming a company, called " The Company of Under- 
takers for the Iron Works," consisting of the following Avealthy 
and enterprising gentlemen: Lionel Copley, Esq., of York 
county, England; Nicholas Bond, Esq., of Westminster; 
Thomas Pury, Esq. of Westminster; John Becx, London, 
merchant; William Beauchamp, London, merchant; Tho- 
mas Foley, London, gentleman; William Greenhill, Step- 
ney, Middlesex county; Thomas Weld, minister, Gateshead, 
Durham county; John Pococke, merchant tailor, London; 
William Becke, merchant tailor, London; William Hic- 
ocke, citizen, London. This company advanced the sum of 
one thousand pounds for commencing the work. Land was 
purchased of Thomas Hudson, and a foundry erected on the 
western bank of Saugus river, where large heaps of scoria are 
still to be seen, John Wiuthrop, jr., also engaged in the enter- 
prise ; and Mr. Endicott, of Salem, in a letter to Governor 
Winthrop, dated, December 1, says, "I want much to hear 
from your son's iron and steel." The village at the Iron Works 
was called Hammersmith, from some of the principal workmen 
R 



206 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1642. 

who came from a place of that name in England. This Iron 
Foundry at Lynn, was the first which was established in America. 

Several persons came from England, this year, to engage in 
the Iron Works, either as superintendents or workmen, among 
whom were the following: 

RiCHAED Leader — was general agent for the Company of the 
Undertakers of the Iron Works, and is mentioned as a man of 
superior ability. 

Henry Leonard — was a workman at the Iron Foundry. 
[With this Henry Leonard, and his brother James, whom Mr, 
Lewis does not notice, is, in fact, identified the whole early 
history of the iron manufacture in America. And to this day, 
descendants of these enterprising men are extensively engaged 
in the iron business. They seem to have become interested in 
the American iron works, as follows : first at Lynn, then at 
Braintree, afterward at Taunton and Rowley Village, and sub- 
sequently at Canton and New Jersey. In process of time it 
came to be said that wherever there were iron works a Leonard 
might be found, for they seem very generally to have bred their 
sons to their own occupation. And their fathers in England 
were engaged in the same calling. 

[Henry was at Lynn in 1642, though it does not seem certain 
that James came with him. But that the latter was here in 
1651 is shown by entries in an account book of that date, kept 
by the Lynn Company. These entries are given as found ex- 
tracted in the N. E. Hist, and Geneai. Register, v. 5, and are as 
follows : ''James Leonnarde, 15 days worke about finnerey Chim- 
neye and other worke in y'' forge, 1 : 13 : 0. To ditto Leonard 
for dressing his bellows 3 times, 1:10:0. To ditto soe much 
allowed him for bringing his goods from Prouidence, 2:0: 0." 
In 1652, both James and Henry engaged in the estabhshment 
of the works at Taunton. At a town meeting there, 21 October, 
1652, as appears by the records, " It was agreed and granted 
by the town to the said Henry Leonard and James Leonard his 
brother, and Ralph Russell, free consent to come hither and 
join with certain of our inhabitants to set up a bloomery work 
on the Two Mile River." These works were what are some- 
times called the Raynham works. The Braintree works had 
previously been established, and with the Lynn works had a 
monopoly of the business by grant. The works at Taunton, by 
the way, continued long in a prosperous condition. They were 
well-managed, and not subjected to harrassing law-suits, such as 
proved so disastrous to tliose at Lynn. 

[I do not find that James Leonard was at Lynn after this; 
but Henry was here in 1655. A deposition of his, sworn to on 
the 27th of October, of that year, contains one or two interest- 
ing particulars. It is as follows : 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1642. 207 

"The Testimony of Homy Leonard, of Hammersmitli, of the age of 37, or 
thereaboins. This deponent saith tliat there was a small Heap of Coles at 
Brantrey Forge, which was Coled about nine yeares agoe ; and these Coles 
Lay Rotting, and noe vse was made of them before they were spoyled, and 
Mr. Gifibrd, being Agent, was to bring in a new stock, w'^'' stock could not be 
Layd l)efore the Rotten Coles were Removed, because the Cattle Could not 
Turne. Wliereupon They being well observed both by IMr. GifFord and my 
selfe, Mr. Gifford gave me order that if Goodman Foster, or some other of 
Brantrey, could make any use of tliem I should dispose of them ; whereupon 
Goodman Foster had about two halfe Loads, and some of y« Rest of 3'"^ neigh- 
bors thereabouts fetched some of them ; but they were soe bad they would 
fetch no more, and Goodman Foster took as much paynes about them as they 
were worth ; and altliough they Avould sei-ve his Turne. they would not sei've 
us at the Ibrge ; and whereas Goodman Prey saith he got out of them to make 
a great quantity of Iron, I know the Labor y* hee and Thomas Billington 
bestowed about drawing of them was more than they were wortii. And 
whereas Goodman Pray saith he made so much Iron of them, hee made not 
a quarter of a Tunn oT those Coles but did cast now and then a Baskett of 
them among other Coles, but they were worth nothing to his worke." 

[By this deposition it may be inferred that Henry was at 
Braintree about 1646. And it seems fair to conclude that as 
he was here in 1642, he engaged in the Iron Works at their 
commencement^ and afterward went to Braintree and assisted 
in estabhshing the forges there. And this supports the position 
that the Iron Works at Lynn were the first in America, and 
those at Braintree the second. 

[Henry Leonard married at Lynn and reared a respectable 
family of six children. He was here in 1668, and was then 
made a freeman. After the last date he went to Rowley Village 
and there established iron works. And in 1674, his sons Na- 
thaniel, Samuel, and Thomas, contracted with " y*' owners of y® 
Iron Works " there to carry on the business. After establish- 
ing the works at Rowley Village, he went to New Jersey, and 
there again engaged in the iron manufacture. 

[James and Henry had a brother Philip, Avho does not appear 
to have come to Lynn. The Leonards were smart, enterprising 
settlers, and many of their descendants, at this day, are distin- 
guished for energy and business talent.] 

Henry Styche — lived at the Iron Works. It appears by a 
deposition given by him, at the Salem Court, in 1653, that he 
was then 103 years of age. [He died in 1654, aged 104.] 

Aezbell Anderson — came from Scotland, and was a work- 
man at the Iron Foundry. He died in 1661. [His baptismal 
name is elsewhere given as Archibald ; but Arzbell is right. In 
the office at Salem is " An Inventory of y^ estate of Arzbell 
Anderson, Scotchman, whoe deceased at y^ Iron Works at Lyn, 
y^ thirteenth day of y^ sixt month, (August) 1661." The estate 
amounted to <£54.18.5.] 

MacCallum More Downing — came from Scotland. He work- 
ed at the forge, and died in 1683. 



208 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1643. 

Joseph Jenks — came from Hammersmith, in England. He 
was a machinist, at the Iron Foundry, and was a man of great 
genius, of which abundant evidence will be found in this history. 
He made the dies for coining the first money, built the first fire- 
engine, and took out several patents for improvements in mills 
and iron tools. He is said to have descended from an ancient 
family in Wales. He came over a widower, leaving two sons 
in England, and married a lady whose baptismal name was Eliza- 
beth, by whom he had one son and two daughters. He died in 
March, 1683, and his wife died in July, 1679. His children 
were: 1. Joseph, born in England, resided some- time in Lynn, 
where he married Esther, daughter of William Ballard. He 
then removed to Pawtucket, where he built a forge, which was 
destroyed in the Wampanoag war, in 1675. In 1681, he was 
an Assistant in the government of Rhode Island ; he had a son, 
Joseph Jenks, who was governor of that state from 1727 to 
1732. 2. George, went to Virginia. 3. Sarah, married John 
Chilson. 4. Samuel, like his father, was a wqrkman in iron, and 
married Elizabeth Darling. 5. Deborah. 6. John, married Sa- 
rah Merriani. 7. Daniel, went to Rhode Island, where he built 
several mills. The descendants of Joseph Jenks, throughout 
New England, are numerous, and several of them have been emi- 
nent ; among whom is the Rev. William Jenks, D, D,, of Boston. 

Joseph Jenks, the founder of the family, deserves to be held 
in perpetual remembrance in American History, as being the 
first founder, " who worked in brass and iron," on the western 
continent. By his hands the first models were made, and the 
first castings taken of many domestic implements and iron tools. 
The first article said to have been cast, was a small iron pot, 
capable of containing about one quart. Thomas Huds,on, of the 
same family with the celebrated Hendric Hudson, and the lineal 
ancestor of my mother, was the first proprietor of the lands on 
Saugus river, where the Iron Foundry stood. When the forge 
was established, he procured the first casting, which was this 
famous old iron pot, which he preserved as a curiosity. It has 
been handed down in the family ever since, and is now, [1844] 
in the possession of my mother, who, I suppose, would not 
exchange it for a silver one. 

1643. 

Much difficulty was occasioned, for several years, by an opin- 
ion which some of the people entertained, that the baptism of 
inftmts was sinful. Mr. William Witter was presented at the 
Salem Court for his conduct in this respect, and on the 28th 
of February, the following record was made : " William Witter — ■ 
Now comeing in, answered humbly, and confessed his Ignorance, 
and his willingness to see Light, and, (upon Mr. Norris, our El- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1643. 209 

der, his speech,) seemed to be staggered, Inasmuch as that he 
came in court meltinglie. Sentence — Have called our orde- 
nonce of God, a badge of the whore — on some Lecture day, the 
next 5th day, being a public fast, To acknowledge his fait. And 
to ask Mr. Cobbett forgiveness, in saying he spok against his 
conscience. And enjoined to be heare next court att Salem." 

At the same court, Roger Scott was presented, " for common 
sleeping at the public exercise upon the Lord's day, and for 
striking him that waked him." In December following, not 
having amended his conduct, he was sentenced by the court, 
to be severely whipped." It was the custom at this time, 
during the public service, for a person to go about the meeting 
to wake the sleepers. He bore a long wand, on one end of 
which was a ball, and on the other a fox tail. When he ob- 
served the men asleep, he rapped them on the head with the 
knob ; and roused the slumbering sensibilities of the ladies by 
drawing the brush lightly across their faces. 

On Sunday morning, 5 March, there was an earthquake. 

[Henry Walton was presented at the court for saying " he 
had as Leave to heare a dogg Barko as to heare m"" Cobbett 
preach." He was acquitted, however, for want of proof.] 

A controversy was in agitation respecting the right of the 
Assistants to a negative vote upon the resolves of the Repre- 
sentatives. Mr. Cobbet wrote a treatise, in which he advocated 
the right of the Assistants, and the question was finally decided 
in their favor. 

On the 5th of June, says Governor Winthrop, "there arose a 
sudden gust at NW. so violent for half an hour as it blew down 
multitudes of trees. It lifted up their meeting-house at New- 
bury, the people being in it. It darkened the air with dust, yet 
through God's great mercy it did no hurt, but only killed one 
Indian. It was straight between Linne and Hampton." 

In June, Mr. Edward Tomlins was appointed by the Court, a 
commissioner to treat with the Indians. He was also appointed 
clerk of the writs instead of Mr. Richard Sadler. [Mr. Lewis 
has placed his Indian mission a little too early, or else he Avas 
more than once detailed for such service. It was on the 30th 
of May, 1644, that he was " ordred and appoynted, by both 
bowses of the Courte to goe vppon a messuage to y^ Narragan- 
sett sachems," and dismissed from the " howse for y^ present 
to ppare himselfe for y° jurney." (Col. Recs.) He went on his 
mission in company with Humphrey Atherton. And it is rep- 
resented that one of their first acts was to catechise the benight- 
ed Narragansetts on the Ten Commandments.] 

Mr. Joseph Armitage, who kept the tavern on the west of 
Saugus river, having become involved in pecuniary difiiculty, 
in consequence of certain speculations beyond his means, his 
R* 14 



210 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1643. 

■wife Jane presented a petition to the General Court, in June, 
that they would " reconfirme the custody of the said ordinary 
to the petitioness." It was signed by the two ministers, and by 
thirty-two other principal inhabitants, and was granted on the 
26th of October. "Joseph Armitage is allowed to keep the 
ordinary, but not to draw wine." 

[It is probable that Mr. Armitage remained in straitened cir- 
cumstances for some time, for at the June term of the court at 
Salem, in 1669, he presented a petition for the payment of a 
number of old demands for entertainment furnished to sundry 
dignitaries, which reads thus : 

To the Honered Court now sitting at Salkr/n. The fTumble petition of Jo- 
seph Armitage Humbly Sheweth that in the time that I kept Ordinaiy ther 
was sum expences at my Hows by some of the Honored magistrates & Depe- 
tys of this County as apears liy ther bills charged oupon Auditor Generall, 
which I never Receaued. Therfor your Humbell petticiouer doth humbly 
request this Court that they would give me an Order to the Comity Treasurer 
for my pay & so your pour petitioner shall ever pray for yoin- prosperity. 

Joseph Armitege. 

[The demands and vouchers appear as follows. And they 
certainly present a refreshing glimpse at the simplicity of the 
times. Just think of a governor of the present day traveling in 
the style of Endicott and Bradstreet. 

[No. 1.] 

M' Auditor Generall, There were divers gentlemen, that attended mee at 
my going to the election, together with the servants, that at their going & 
returning back, which had in beare & wine, at Joseph Armitages, eleven shil- 
lings & 4d., which I pray give you a bill to the Treasurer that hee may be paid. 

4th of the 8th monelh, 1650. yrs, Jo. Endecott. 

[No. 2. Armitages bill.] 

the gouerners Expences from the Coart of election, 1651, till the end of 
October, 1651 : to bear & cacks, [beer and cakes] 6d. ; bear and cacks to him- 
self and som other gentllemen, Is. 2d. ; bear and cacks with M'' Do\vning, Is. 
6d. ; bear & a cack, 6d. — 3s. 8d. 

to the Sargents from the end of the Coart of election, 1651, till the end of 
October, 1651, bear & cacks. Is. 2d. ; for vitalls, beear & logen. 5s. ; to Benja- 
min Scarlet, the gouerners man, 8d. ; bear & vitells, 2s. ; to the Sargents, 1 s. 
9d. ; beear and cacks. Is. ; to a man that Caried a leter to warne a Court about 
the duchman. Is. 6d. ; to the Sargents, Is. 2d. — 14s. 3d. 

Mr Auditor, I pray you give a note to M' Treasurei*, for the payment of 17s. 
lid. according to these two bills of Joseph Armitage. 
Dated the 7th of the 11th mo. 1651. Jo. Endecott. 

[No. 3. Wiggins bill.] 
Mr tresorer, I pray you pay to Joseph Armitage the som of one shilling 
fouer pence, which I expended going to the generall Court this 17. 8 mo. 
1650. Tho. Wiggin. 

[No. 4. Bradstreetes bill.] 
due to goodman Armitage, for beare & ^VJ'ne att severall times as I came 
by in the space of aboute 3 veares, 4s. 3d. May IStli, '49. More for my man 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 164:4. 211 

& horse, as hee returned home the last yeare when I was a Commissioner, 
hee being deteyned a sabboath day, 6s. 8d. Simon Bradstreete. 

[No. 5. Armitagis bill.] 

Payed, by the order of the IMagistrates, To Ileniy Skerry with a Udall a 
prisoner, 3s". lOd. ; To John Kicliing going witii Abner Ardway to the prison, 
3s ; To the Constable, when Rubin went to prison, 3s. lOd. ; To them that 
carried Robert Hithersay to prison from Salsberry, 4s. lOd. — 15s. 6d. 

M"^ Auditor, I pray you passe this bill allso to the Treasurer. 

23. 11 mo. 1649. Jo. Endecott, Goyr. 

[No. 6. Samuel Symonds bill.] 

7th first mo. 1650. Due to Joseph Armitage for my refreshment in return- 
ing from Boston Courts of Assistants, lOd. Samuel Symonds. 

[No. 7.] 

There is due to Joseph Ai-mitage, of Lyn, one shilling and four pence for our 
dinner, the 6th of ye S'^ mo. 1651. 

Tho. Bradbury, Esdras Reade, Depts. 

Reseved of Joseph Armitage tenn pence, Witnes my hand this 6. 3 mo. 
1651. Jo. Whipple. 

Reseved at Joseph Armitages fouer pence bj^ mee. 

6. 3 mo. 1651. Hugh Cauking, [who signs by a cross, his mark.] 

Mr Auditer, pay to Joseph Armeteg fouer pound sevene shilHngs one pence. 

Joseph Jewet, Guard, 

9. 4 mo. 1652. Ephraim Child. 

It was probably on account of the refusal of the Court to 
allow Mr. Armitage to sell spirit, that he procured the warrant 
mentioned in the Salem court files, 27 December, when Joseph 
Armitage was presented, " for procuring a warrant for seaventv 
persons to appeare forthwithe before the Governor, which we 
conceave may be of dangerous consequence," 

[Mr. Armitage having been fined for not informing the consta- 
ble of a person being drunk in his company, as the law required, 
petitioned to have the fine remitted. But the Court answer, 13 
May, 1651, that they see "no cawse to abate the petitioner any 
part of that fine." 

[^Ir. Armitage died in 1680. His administrator was Henr}'' 
Styche. Richard Haven and John Ballard appraised the estate 
which they rendered at £6.2.6.] 

1644. 

The Company of Undertakers for the Iron Works, on the 7th 
of March, laid before the Court ten propositions for the advance- 
ment of their designs ; the most important of which were grant- 
ed. They were allowed permission to make use of six places, 
three miles square in each place, wherever they might choose, 
without interfering with previous grants. Their privileges 
were to continue twenty-one years ; with exemption of them- 
selves, their workmen, and stock, from all public taxes, for ten 
years. 



212 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1644. 

On the 20th of May, the Court allowed the town " thirty sacre 
shot" for their two great guns, of which Captain Bridges had 
the care. [The sacre, or saker, was a peculiar kind of ordnance, 
of French invention, as the name would seem to indicate. It 
was frequently used as a field piece. " Of guns, the long sacre 
is most esteemed," says Dampier in his Voyages, 1688.] 

At the same Court, the name of Lynn Village was altered to 
Reading. 

[There was a great drought this year, and much sickness 
prevailed in the summer. A public fast was held in July, in 
consequence.] 

At the Quarterly Court, 27 August, the following persons 
were presented : " Wm. Hewes and John his son, for deriding 
such as Sing in the Congregation, tearming them fooles ; also 
William Hewes for saying Mr. Whiting preaches confusedly ; 
also John Hewes for charging Mr. Cobbitt with falsehood in 
his doctrine. Wm. Hewes and John his son, shall pay 50s. a 
peece for a fine, and that it be Injoyned they shall make an 
humble confession at Lynn, at a publick meeting, which accord- 
ing to it the Court will consider of their -fines." [The name 
seems to have been spelled Hewes, or Hughes, interchangeably. 
Thus, on the Colony Records, 16 Oct. 1650, is found the follow- 
ing: ''In answer to the petition of Purnell Hughes, wife of 
William Hughes, of Lynne, the Court accept of hir acknouledg- 
ment, and according to hir request, pardons hir hir olTence in 
selling strong waters w*''out license whereby one was distem- 
pered." This Hewes family does not seem to have been above 
reproach. 

[Hugh Burt and Samuel Bennett, of Lynn, were presented 
to the grand jury as " common sleepers in time of exercise." 
They were fined 2s. 6d. each.] 

On the 13th of November, the Iron Company presented to 
the Court seven more propositions ; in reply to which, the 
Court, in addition to their former grants, allowed them three 
years " for the perfecting of their worke, and furnishing of the 
country with all sorts of barr iron." They gave any of the 
inhabitants liberty to share in the work, by " bringing in within 
one year, no less than lOOX a person, with allowance to the 
adventurers, &c., for lOOOX already disbursed;" if they would 
complete the finery and forge, as well as the furnace, which " is 
already set up." They gave them liberty, in all waste places, 
" to make use of all yron ston, or yron oare," to cut wood, and 
to make ponds and highways. They likewise granted them 
immunities, civil and religious, equal with any in the jurisdic- 
tion ; and recommended them to provide religious instruction 
for the families of their workmen, who w^ere to be free from all 
watchings against the Indians, and from all trainings. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1645. 213 

1645. 

The establishment of the Irou Foundry was highly approved 
by the Court, who passed the following order on the 14th of 
May: 

" Whereas it is now found by sufficient purj)osc that the iron work is very 
successful, both in the richness of the ore and tlie goodness of the iron, and 
like to be of great benefit to the wliole country, especially if the inhabitants 
here shouki be interested therein, in some good proportion, one half at the 
least, and whereas the time limited for adventurers to come in will be expired 
in the ninth month next: This Court, taking the same into serious considera- 
tion, and being careful that such an opportimity, for so great advantage to the 
Commonwealth might not be let slip, have taken order, that speedy notice 
thereof should be given to every town within this jurisdiction, expecting that 
all such persons as arc of sufficient ability, and intend their own benefit, with 
the common good, will forthwith appear to come in to share in the work, 
according to their abilities; and for their better instruction, and direction 
herein, they are hereby to understand that there is already disl)ursed between 
£1200 and £1500, witli which the finniace is built, with that which belongeth 
to it, and good quantity of mine, coal, and wood, provided, and some tons of 
sow iron cast, and some other things in readiness for the forge, &c. ; they are 
also to know that no adventurer is to put in less than £100 ; but divers may 
join together to make up that sum, so it come all under one name. There 
will be need of some £1500 to finish the forge, &c., which will be accepted 
in money, beaver, wheat, coals, or any such commodities as will satisfy the 
workmen ; and these are to be paid in to Mr. Henry Webb, of Boston, by such 
direction as they may receive from the undertakers, Mr. John Winthrop, juii., 
Major Sedgwick, Mr. Henry Webb, aforesaid, and INIr. Joshua Hewcs ; the 
new adventurers are also to know that they must bear their part in such loss 
as is befallen the first stock, by forbearance or otherwise, to the time of the 
new adventurers paying in their adventures ; and all such as will adventure 
are desired to hasten their resolutions, that the work may go on speedily." 

A question has arisen, whether the first forge might not have 
been established at Braintree. It certainly was not. The first 
purchase of land for the iron works at Braintree, which has been 
discovered, was not till some months after this time, namely, on 
the twenty-ninth of September, 1645, when George Ruggles 
sold to Richard Leader twenty acres. The grant of " 2860 acres," 
made for the iron works " to be set up " at Braintree, was not 
laid out till the eleventh of January, 1648. It is certain that an 
iron foundry was in successful operation at L3mn, as early as 
1643, and as mention is only made by the Court of one forge, it 
follows of course that it must have been this. In 1691, iron 
ore, called '' rock mine," was taken from the ledges at Nahant 
for the forge at Braintree. 

[The first deed on record, in our County Registry, is one 
from Thomas Dexter, who, " for the sum of 40X the year, hath 
sould unto Richard Leader, for the use of the Iron Works, all 
that land," <fcc.] 

The Court ordered, that youth, from ten to sixteen years of 
age, should be exercised, on training days, in the use of small 
guns, half pikes, and bows and arrows. They also ordered, that 



214 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1645. 

any person who should make or publish a false report, should 
be fined ten shillings, or set in the stocks. 

Mr. Edward Burcham was chosen " Clarke of the Writts, and 
to record deaths, births, and marriages for the Towne." 

" Thomas Layton hath liberty granted him by the house of 
deputies, to drawe wine for the town for one yeare." [The 
license was granted to him at the request of the town.] 

" Thomas Layghton, Edward Burcham, and Thomas Puttnam, 
are chosen by the house of deputies to end small controversies." 
[These controversies, or '' small cawses " as they are sometimes 
called on the records, were such as in pecuniary matters did 
not exceed twenty shillings.] 

The number of inhabitants having been considerably dimin- 
ished by the removal of so many famihes to Reading, Long 
Island, and other places, a petition was presented to the Court 
for an abatement of taxes. The original paper, very much torn 
and trampled by the mob which dilapidated Governor Hutchin- 
son's house and papers in 1765, is still in existence. It com- 
mences with 'Hiumbly shewing, that whereas the overrnlinge 
Providence of God hath much weakened our hands, which yet 
were never of like strength with others about us, to bear such a 
share in the publique disbursements and debts of the country 
as formerly, we therefore make bold truly to informe this hon- 
oured Court of our infeebled estate with Avhich we have more 
immediate cause to be best acquainted. Those fewe able per- 
sons which were with and of us, its not unknowne how many 
of them have deserted us ; as my lady Moody, whose share in a 
former rate of this town, at SOX was above 4X and her estate, 
left now in a life rate, pays not IX 10s. Mr. Howell, 6X. Mr. 
Willis, 5X. Mr. Keayne, 2X. Mr. Edward Toralins, neare 3X. 
John Poole, IX 15s. Mr. Sadler, IX 10s. Nic. Browne, as much. 
Lieftenant Walker, IX. Wm. Halsey, IX. John Cowper, IX. 
Mr. Wade, 12s. James Hubbard, 12s. Wm. Cowdrey, Wm. 
Blott, Wm. Martin, Thomas Marshall, Zachary flfitch, 10s., each 
of them, besides above 20 more, whose share in such a rate was, 
some 8, some 7," &c. The petitioners state, that between " two 
and three hundred acres of the deserted farms is soe overrun 
with Sorrel that it is scarce quittinge cost to such whose neces- 
sities is such as with us force them to improve the same. We 
would not envy our neighbor townes, which are of the risinge 
hand by tradinge or otherwayes ; we rather wish theyr pros- 
perity ; but for ourselves, we are neither fitted for or inured to 
any such course of trade, but must awayte God's blessinge alone 
upon our Lands and Cattel ; our Earnest Request therefore is, 
that this honoured Court, in which is the Confluence of the 
wisdom, fidelity, and Equity of the Country, would please seri- 
ously to weigh the premises touching our present estate, and 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1645. 215 

proportion out such share of Publique Charges, according not 
to our supposed but real Abihties which the Lord hath left us ; 
and we shall cheerfully put too our shoulders and continue our 
joynt prayers for you and yours. Resting yours to serve and 
obey in the Lord." Tliis petition was signed by Thomas Put- 
nam, Francis Lightfoot, Henry Collins, William Longley, and 
Thomas Laighton, selectmen. The Court, in their reply, say : 
" We conceive the estate of lin should be considered ; " and 
when they lay the tax, which was X616.15, they required only 
£25 from Lynn. 

[A few facts regarding some of the individuals named in the 
foregoing paragraph, which do not appear to have fallen under 
the eye of Mr. Lewis, will be here given. Those spoken of will 
be distinguished by italics. 

[]\Ir. Keaijne, seems to have been Benjamin, son of Robert 
Keayne, of Boston, the first captain of the Ancient and Honor- 
able Artillery Company ; and he is elsewhere mentioned in this 
volume. He could have been in Lynn but a short time. His 
wife was a daughter of Gov. Thomas Dudley. But their con- 
nection proved to be an unhappy one. He repudiated her and 
went back to England. She was excommunicated in October, 
1647, and became greatly reduced in position. Their only child, 
Ann, seems to have inclined to the wayward paths her mother 
trod. Old Mr. Keayne provided well for the granddaughter, by 
his will, enjoining, however, that no part of the property left 
for her should in any event go to her mother, and appointed 
certain eminent gentlemen, with his wife, " to dispose of her 
for her future education, to some such wise and godly mistress 
or family, where slie may have her carnal disposition most of all 
subdued and reformed by strict discipline ; and also that they 
would show like care and assistance in seasonable time to pro- 
vide some fit and godly match, proportionate to her estate and 
condition, that she may live comfortably and be fit to do good 
in her place and not to suffer her to be circumvented or to cast 
away herself upon some swaggering gentleman or other, that 
will look more after the enjoying what she hath, than live in the 
fear of God, and true love to her." 

[Benjamin Keayne had a farm at Lynn, which, in 1646, was 
under a small mortgage. Those two eminent divines, John 
Cotton, of Boston, and Thomas Cobbet, of Lynn, were guardians 
of a young man named Theophilus Skeppar, and Mr. Keayne 
was indebted to this Skeppar " in y® sume of 51Z. payable to 
y® said Theophi: at y^ age of 21 yeares," for which payment he 
had mortgaged " his farme at Linn." Keayne afterward made 
over all his estate to his wife and his father for distribution 
among his creditors. Upon this the guardians became alarmed, 
apparently lest the assignment should supersede the mortgage, 



216 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1645. 

and petitioned the Court on the subject. And the Court ordered 
that the " said farme in Linn shall not be allienated or any 
way disposed by y® wife or fath' of M' Benia: Keayne, but 
shall remain engaged for securing y® bll. to y^ said orphan, at 
y^ age of 21 yeares as is pvided in y® deed above mentioned." 
Benjamin Keayne died in 1658. His wife, who in her low estate 
had become the wife, real or reputed, of a Mr. Pacey, died in 
1659. And Ann, after having had two husbands, died in 1704. 

[ William Halsey. I think this must mean Thomas Halsey, 
who came here in 1637. He remained but a short time, and 
went to Southampton. His will was probated in New York, in 
1679, and in it he names three sons and a daughter. See the 
name under date 1638. 

[John Coioper. I do not see who this can be unless it is the 
individual called John Cooper, under date 1635, in the list of 
land distributees, 1638, and elsewhere, who became one of the 
Southampton settlers, and was " our neighbor John Cooper," 
licensed, 25 January, 1655, to sell strong liquor to all the peo- 
ple there excepting Indians and such as would not *' use it 
properly." 

\J\Ir. Wade. This was probably Samuel Wade who was here 
in 1641 ; the same individual who was robbed by his servant, 
Richard Wilson, of " 8?. of money & divers small things," for 
which the Court ordered the said Richard " to be put fourth to 
servise for 3 or 4 yeares except hee can procure 10?. ; also hee 
is to have a T set vpon his vpmost garment ; the servise is to 
bee w*h his m"", if his m'' will haVe him, or else to bee put out by 
the countrey." Mr. Wade must have left Lynn before 1645. 
There was a Richard Wade here, for a short time, about 1637. 

{James Hubbard. There was a man of this name here, in 
1637. In 1641 he went to Long Island. From the circum- 
stance that the following mysterious entry on the Colony Rec- 
ords, 1 December, 1640, is immediately succeeded by two others 
relating to Lynn, it is judged that the individual in question 
had been complained of for assault and battery: "James Hub- 
bard is discharged, the hurt being little, and done unwiting, the 
other pressing upon him."] 

Some of the inhabitants of Lynn and Salem petitioned the 
Court for liberty to form an independent company. The Court 
gave permission, and a band was formed, called " The Military 
Company of Lynn and Salem." [And they were allowed to 
assemble for military exercise, either in Lynn or Salem, as 
often as they pleased.] 

At the Quarterly Court, on the 5th of July, Samuel Bennet 
was presented, " for saying, in a scornful manner, he neither 
cared for the Towne, nor any order the Towne could make." 

Captain Robert Bridges was appointed by the Court, a com- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1645, 217 

missioner to negotiate between Lord De La Tour and Monsieur 
D'Aulney, the governors of the French provinces on the north 
of New England. He Avas accompanied by Richard "Walker 
and Thc/mas Marshall. For their " good service " in this em- 
bassy, (^Japtain Bridges was allowed ten pounds, Lieutenant 
Walker four pounds, and Sergeant Marshall forty shillings. 

[On the I4th of May, the Court chose Captain Bridges and 
four others to draft bills for " possitive lawes ' ' against lying, 
sabbath-breaking, profanity, drunkenness, <fec.] 

On the 14th of October, the Company of Undertakers for the 
Iron Works presented a petition to the Court, which was granted. 
As the answer of the Court comprises some interesting informa- 
tion respecting the Iron Works, it is transcribed. 

1. It was granted and by this Com-t ordered, that the undertakers, their 
agents and assigns, are liereby granted tlie sole privilege and benefit of making 
L'on and managing of all Iron mines and worlds that now are, or shall be dis- 
covered and found out, or hereafter shall be in this juriscUction, for the term 
of twenty-one years from the former grant : Provided that the said adventur- 
ers, their agents or assigns, do, within three years from the former date, use 
their best endeavors to their utmost skill to perfect so many of the said works, 
that the inhabitants of this jiu-isdiction be furnished with bar iron of all sorts 
for theu- use, not exceeding twenty pounds per ton : Provided, also, that it 
shall be in the liberty of any within this jurisdiction to be adventurers with 
the undertakers, that by the last day of this October they bring in their adven- 
tures, not less in one man's name than fifty pounds, with allowance to the 
adventurers, for the stock of one thousand pounds by them already disbursed. 

2. The Court doth hereby further grant to the said undertakers, their 
agents and assigns, in all places of waste and lands not ajjpropriated to any 
town or person, that the said undertakers, their agents or assigns, at all times 
during tlie said term of twenty-one years, shall and may fi-eely and at their 
own discretion have and take all manner of wood and timber, to be converted 
into coals, or any other uses for the service of the undertakers, as also all 
manner of earth, stones, turf, clay, and other materials for buildings and 
reparation of their works, forges, mills, or houses built, or to be built, or for 
making or moulding any manner of guns, pots, and all other cast-iron ware, 
and for converting wood into charcoal, and also to get, dig, and carry away 
of all manner of stone, iron ore, and wood of all sorts, and any other material, 
or things of use for their works, and it is hereby also granted to the said 
undertakers, their agents, or assigns, that they shall have free libei'ty to make 
all convenient ways and passages, as also all manner of dams, watercoin-ses, 
sluices, ponds of water, in all waste grounds, or other conveyances, to, from, 
and for the service of the said works built or to be built not appropriated to 
any town or person, during such time as the said works shall continue : Pro- 
vided, if by any pond, shnce, dam, or any other work (though in land appro- 
priated) they sliould spoil, or any ways prejudice the land appropriated to any 
town or person, the said undertakers shall make due and just satisfaction. 

3. Also the Court doth hereby further grant to the said adventurers, their 
agents, or assigns, in all the grounds that are or shall be appropriated, tliat the 
said adventurers, their agents, or assigns, shall have free liberty at all times 
during the term, to dig, get, carry away all manner of stone, or iron ore, and 
to make and use all convenient ways and sluices, watercourses, pools, dams, 
ponds of water, and other conveniences, to, from, and for the sei-vice of the 
said works through all the said grounds, that are or hereafter shall be ajjpro- 
pridted, (except houses, orchards, not exceeding three acres, and yards) giving 



c 

218 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G45. 

such due and full recompense for the same to the owners thereof, for the time 
being, as three indifferent men shall adjudge, whereof one to be appointed by 
the said Court at the next general meeting after the undertakers, their agents, 
or assigns, shall make or use any of the said ways, or watercourses, or other 
particulars therein mcritioned for the sei-vices aforesaid, and one other by the 
o^vner of the laud, and the third by the uudertakers or adventurers. 

4. The Court hereby do further grant unto the said adventurers and to 
their heirs and assigns forever, so much laud now or hereafter to be in this 
jurisdiction, as aforesaid, as shall contain in six places three miles square in 
each place, or so much in quantity as containeth three miles square not exceed- 
ing four miles in lengtli to be set out in such places and parcels, as the said 
undertakers or their agents shall make choice of, not being already appropri- 
ated as aforesaid, upou which said land the said adventurers shall have free 
liberty aud hereby do undertake that withiu the said term of [twentj-one] 
years", to search, set out, and lind convenient places withiu the said compass 
of land, for the building and setting up of six Ibrges, or furnaces, and not 

•bloomeries only, or so many more as they shall have occasion for, for the 
making of iron* as aforesaid, which they shall, (the iron stone and other mate- 
rials appearing proper aud lit for the making of iron as aforesaid,) build and 
set up witliin the term aforesaid: Provided that the Court may grant a planta- 
tion in any place where the Court doth think meet, the undertakers or their 
agents there residing liaviug first notice thereof, and not making choice of the 
same for part of the'land to be set out and granted to them, for the design of 
plantiug tiie said iron works and making iron as aforesaid. 

5. And it is further granted aud ordered that what quantity of iron of all 
sorts and qualities the said adveuturers, their agents, or assigns, shall make 
more than the iuliabitants shall have need or use of for their service to be 
bought and paid for by the said inhabitants as aforesaid, they shall have free 
liberty to transport the same by shipping to other ports or places of the world, 
and to make sale thereof, iu what way and place the said adventurers shall 
please, for their best advantage : Provided they sell it not to any person or 
state in actual hostility with us. 

6. It is further granted aud ordered, that the said undertakers, and agents, 
and sei-vauts, shall, from the date of their presents, have and enjoy all liber- 
ties aud immunities whatsoever, present or to come, equal with any in this 
jurisdictiou, according to the laws and orders thereof, for the time bdng, and 
according to the rights and privileges of the churches. 

7. It is also granted, that the undertakers and adventurers, together with 
their agents, servants, and assigns, shall be and are hereby free froin all taxes, 
assessments, contributions and other ])ublic charges whatsoever, lor so much 
of their stock or goods as shall be employed iu and about the said iron works, 
for and during tli^e term of [twenty-one] years yet to come from tlieir presents. 

8. It is also hereby further j-r'anted and ordered, that all such clerks and 
workmen as miners, founders, finers, hammer-meu and collii^rs, necessarily 
emi)loyed, or to be employed, in and about the said works, built or to be built, 
for any the services thereof, shall from time to time during the term of [twen- 
ty-one] years, be and hereby are absolutely freed and discharged of and from 
all ordinary trainings, watchings, etc., but that every person at all times be 
furnished with amis, powder, shot, etc., according to order of Court. 

9. Lastly. It is ordered by the Court, that in all places where any iron 
work is set up, remote from a church or congregation, unto which they cannot 
conveniently come, that the uudertakers shall i)rovide some good means where- 
by their families may be instructed in the knowledge of God, by such as the 
('ourt or standing couucil shall approve of." 

On the 22d of December, " Thomas Hudson of Linne, granted 
unto Thos. Hutchinson of Linne, sixty acres of ground, amongst 
the fFurnaces, adjoyning to Goodman Townsend's ffarme." 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G46. 219 

A book was written tliia year, by Rev. Nathaniel "Waid, of 
Ipswich, which attracted much attention. It is entitled, " The 
Simple Cobler of Aggawam, willing to help mend his Native 
Country, lamentably tattered, both in Upper Leather and Sole, 
with all the honest Stitches he can take." It abounds in pun- 
gent wit and satire, interspersed with much good sense. He is 
particularly severe on those who cause iimovations in religion, 
and deny the rite of infant baptism. He says, " The removing 
of some one iota in scripture, may draw out all the life, and 
traverse all the truths of the Bible. To authorize an untruth 
by a toleration of state, is to build a sconce against the walls 
of heaven, to batter God out of his chair ! " His book concludes 
wita the following stanza: 

And farewell, Simple World, 

If thou 'It thy crauiutn mend. 
There is my Last and Awl, 
.And a Shoemaker's End, 

1646. 

The proprietors of the Iron Works, in the beginning of this 
year, made an agreement with Thomas Dexter, for opening a 
new water-course, and enlarging the pond. They purchased 
" all that parcell of land neere adjacent to the Grantor's house, 
which shall necessarily be overflowed by reason of a pond of 
water, there included, to be stopped to the height agreed on 
betwixt them ; and sufficient for a water-course intended to be 
erected, together with the land lyinge betweene the ould water- 
course and the new one. And also five acres and halfe in the 
cornfield next the Grantor's house," for which they allowed £4:0. 
They agreed to make a fence " toward Captain Bridges's house," 
with " a sufficient cart bridge over the said water-course," and 
'' to allow sufficient water in the ould river for the Alewives to 
come to the wyres before the Grantor's house." This extension 
of the pond caused it to overflow three acres of land belonging 
to Mr. Adam Hawkes. The whole amount purchased was forty- 
five acres. 

Thomas Dexter's house stood at some distance above the 
Iron Works, on the left. The present road to the northward 
runs through the bed of the old pond. This year the dam was 
moved farther up the river, and a little canal was dug from the 
pond, and brought along on the high ground, until it reached 
the foundry. This canal was the " new water-course " men- 
tioned in the preceding agreement. 

On the 18th of February, Mr. William Witter was presented 
at the Quarterly Court " ffor saying that they who stayed while 
a Childe is baptized, doe worshipp the dyvill; also Henry Col- 
lens and Mathew West, deling with him about the former 



220 ■ ANNALS OP LYNN — 1646.' 

speeche, lie speaks to them after this manner, That they who 
stayed at the baptising of a Childe, did take the name of the 
Father, Sonn, and holly ghost in vaine and broke the Saboth, 
and confesseth and justifieth his former speech. Sentence of 
Court is, an Iniunction next Lord's day, being faire, that he 
make a publique confession to Satisfaction, in the open congre- 
gation at Lyn, or else to answer it at the next General Court. 
And concerning his opinion, the court hath yet patience toward 
him, till they see if he be obstinate, and only admonish him." 

By permission of the Court, Mr. Leader purchased some of 
" the country's Gunnes," to melt over at the iron foundry. 

[The General Court, 6 May, passed an order forbidding the 
smoking of tobacco, out of doors, under a penalty of two shil- 
lings for every offence, besides recompense for all damage that 
might be occasioned ; " pvided, nevertheles, y* it shalbe lawfull 
for any man y* is on his iourny (remote from any house five 
miles) to take tobacco, so that thereby he sets not y** woods on 
fire to y'' damage of any man." To avoid the inconvenience of 
this order it is probable that the gracious dames allowed a com- 
forting whiff now and then to be taken in their capacious chim- 
ney corners.] 

On the 10th of June, Mr. Joseph Jenks presented a petition 
that the Court would patronise his improvements in mills, and 
the manuflicture of sythes. " In Answer to a petition of Joseph 
Jencks for liberty to make experience of his abilHtyes and In- 
ventions for the making of engines for mills, to goe with water, 
for the more speedy^KJispatch of worke than formerly, and mills 
for the making of sithes and other edge tooles, with a new 
Invented sawemill, that things may be afforded cheaper than 
formerly, and that for fourteen yeeres without disturbance by 
any other's setting up the like Invention, that so his study and 
costs may not be in vayne or lost, this peticon was graunted, 
so as power is still left to restrayne the exportation of such 
manufactures, and to moderate the prizes thereof, if occacon so 
require." 

Mr. Daniel King complained to the Court that his goods had 
been taken, to the amount of fifty shillings, by " the captain of 
y® trayned band of Lin, for supposed neglect of trayning, he 
being lame, and willing to find a suflScieut man." The Court 
ordered him to pay the fifty shillings for the past, and ten shil- 
lings, annually, for the future. [But by the proceedings of the 
General Court, in May, it is found that " for time to come, this 
Courte doth discharge him, in regard of his bodily infirmity, 
from attendance vpon ordinary traynings, for any service in 
armes." And nothing is said about fines.] 

Much damage was done to the corn, wheat, and barley, this 
summer, by a species of large black caterpillar. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1646. 221 

On the 4th of August, Mr, Thomas Dexter was presented at 
the Quarterly Court " for a common sleeper," in meetings for 
public worship, and fined. 

[Joseph Armitage petitioned the Court to license " to draw 
wine," whoever the town should choose for that purpose. The 
Court allowed the choice to be made, and provided that the 
one chosen might act till the next sitting, at which he might be 
presented for confirmation. Nicholas Potter was chosen, and 
at the next Court duly licensed.] 

The proprietors of the Iron Works addressed a letter to the 
Court, in May, which was answered in September. In their 
reply, the Court say, '' We acknowledge with you that such a 
staple comodity as Iron is a great meanes to enrich the place 
where it is, both by furnishing this place with that comodity at 
reasonable rates, and by bringing in other necessary comoditys 
in exchange of Iron exported, but as we use to say, if a man 
lives where an axe is worth but 12d., yet it is never the cheaper 
to him who cannot get 12d. to buy one. So if your Iron may 
not be had heere without ready mony, what advantage will that 
be to us if wee have no money to purchase it. Itt is true some 
men have here Spanish mony sometimes, but little comes to our 
Smiths hands, especially those of inland tonnes. What monyes 
our Smithes cann gett you may be sure to have it before any 
other ; if we must want iron so often as our mony failes, yo- 
may easily Judge if it were not better for us to Procure it frc 
other places by our corne and pipe staves, &c. then to depend 
on the coming in of mony which is never so plentifull as to 
supply for the occacon." 

In October, Captain Robert Bridges was chosen Speaker of 
the House of Representatives. 

On the night of the 4th of November, " began a most dread- 
ful tempest at northeast, with wind and rain." The roof of Lady 
Moody's house, at Salem, was blown off. (Winthrop.) 

At the Court, this month, " on the motion of the Deputies 
of the towne of Linne : It is ordered that there shalbe once a 
weeke a market kept there on every third day of the weeke, 
being their lecture day." 

[The courts had been for some time vexed by a suit — Taylor 
against King — brought to recover damages for the goring to 
death of the plaintiff's mare, by the defendant's bull, which 
was decided this year. Considerable evidence as to the vicious 
character of the bull was introduced. And some of the pecu- 
liar customs of the time are so graphically exhibited that a few 
passages of the testimony will be given. Robert Bridges says : 
"... myself being on horseback with my wyfe behinde me, 
y^ s*^ Bull stood in the high way as I was riding a Longe. When 
I came up to the Bull, not knowing whos beast it was, neither 
S* 



222 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1647. 

thinking of an}'' opposition, I struck at the bull, w*h my stick, 
to put him out of the way; ymediately y* bull made att my 
mare, and placed his home vpon her shoulder, and had well 
nigh overthrone both the mare and his riders ; and although I 
endevored to shunne y'^ bull, yet he still so prest vpon mee y* I 
cannot but conceave had not the neareman bin att hand to 
beat him off that some hurt had bin done, either to o'^selves or 
my mare, or both ; but gods good hand better provided." Ann 
Knight testified that " shee dwelling with wid. Tayler, did see 
her mare alive, the evening before, eating chaffe where they 
had bene winnowing corne ; and the next morning, about breake 
of day, she saw the bull in the roade where the mare used to 
ly, and the bull seeing her, went away, she thinking nothing 
of any harme done by him; then going into the house with a' 
few stickes for the fire, she came presently out againe and saw! 
the mare lying in the roade with her body lying on one side,'' 
with her entrails out, and " that there was no other cattell in the 
yard, but only the colt of that mare. Shee also testifieth that 
shee helped to dresse the same mare of a former wound that 
was very deepe." The judgment in the case was as follows: 
" Best. 7:3: 1646. It was agreed that in the Judgm* of Lawe, 
it is to be concluded that y^ bull did kill y® mare, and y* y*^ own- 
er of y® Bull, upon such notice as he had, ought to have taken 
order to prevent any future mischief" ..." Salem, 18 5mo. 
1646. The magistrates assembled at Salem, doe judge y* m' 
King shall pay halfe the valine of the mare unto m'" Tayler, w^ is 
Judged to bee 7X, that is, according to the rate of 14X for the 
mare, shee being great with foale, with a mare foale." 

[The winter of this year was thought to be the coldest since 
the settlement commenced,] 

« 

1647. 

On the 20th of January, Richard Leader sold to Joseph Jenks, 
the privilege to build a forge at the Iron Works, for the manu- 
facture of sythes. 

On the 26th of May, Capt. Robert Bridges was chosen an 
Assistant. 

In June, an epidemic sickness prevailed through the whole 
country, supposed to have been the influenza. 

In October, the Court ordered, that every town containing 
fifty families, should have a school for reading and writing; and 
that all towns containing one hundred families, should maintain 
a grammar school. 

An order was passed, that if any young man should address 
a young woman, without the consent of her parents, or in their 
absence, of the county court, he should be fined five pounds. 

The Court fixed the prices of grain to be received for taxes ; 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1648. 223 

Indian corn at 3s., rye and peas at 3s. 6d., barley at 4s., and wheat 
at .4s. 6d. a bushel. 

[The Court, 11 Nov., desii^nated the marks by which cattle 
and horses owned in the different towns should be branded. 
The brand was to be on one of the near quarters. An L was to 
be on those belonging to Lynn. 

[Sarah Ellis, of Lynn, was presented at the Salem court, for 
not living with her husband for eight years. But it appear- 
ing that he abused her, while they lived together, she was 
acquitted. 

;: [Elizabeth Lambert, wife of Michael Lambert, of Lynn, was 
^presented "for brewinge on the Lord's day. But it appearing 
to the Court that she breweing on the last day did leave some 
things to finish on the Lord's day ; sentence of the Court is an 
admonition, and to pay for witnesses, 3s. 4d., and 2s. 6d. fees of 
court.] 

Among the presentments at the Quarterly Court, was the 
following. December 14: ''The town of Lynn, for want of a 
staff for the constable." 

December 29 : " John Turner, living at the Iron Workes, at 
Lin, being convicted before the Court for stabbing Sara Turner, 
his daughter-in-law — the sentence of Court is, that he shall be 
severely whipped." 

1648. 

Mr. Edmund Ingalls, the first white inhabitant of Lynn, was 
drowned, in March, in crossing Saugus river. Soon after, "Rob- 
ert Ingalls, Avith the rest of his brethren and sisters, being eight 
in number," petitioned the General Court, " That whereas their 
father hath been deprived of life by the insufficiency of Lynn 
Bridge, that according to the law in such cases, there shall bo 
an hundred pounds forfeited to the next heir." This was grant- 
ed. It was in conformity with an old British law, established 
by Howell the Good, King of Wales, by which the value of each 
person's life was nominally fixed, and so much money paid, in 
case of his being killed. 

On the 23d of March, the Court allowed the town twenty 
pounds toward repairing the " great bridge " over Saugus river. 
On the 18th of October, thirty shillings were granted annually 
for the same purpose. 

On the 27th of April, Capt. Robert Bridges's house, near the 
Iron Works, was burned. (Winthrop.) 

[The following license was granted on the 10th of May: 
"Whereas, Mr. Downings farme, in the way between Linn and 
Ipswich is a convenient place for the releife of travellers, 
it is ordered that Mr. Downings tenant shall have liberty to 
keepe an ordinary, his said tenant being such an one as the 



224 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1649. 

towne of Salem shall approve for that impliment." (Col. Recs.) 
Mr. Downing's farm was next to Endicott's.] 

In June, Margaret Jones, of Charlestown, was executed at 
Boston, for a witch. This was the first execution for this of- 
fence, in New England, and should have been the last. 

In a letter to his son, dated 4 August, Mr. Winthrop remarks : 
" The iron work goeth on with more hope. It yields now about 
7 tons per week, but it is most out of that brown earth which 
lies under the bog mine. They tried another mine, and after 
24 hours they had a sum of about 500, which, when they brake, 
they conceived to be a 5th part silver. There is a grave man 
of good fashion come now over to see how things stand here. 
He is one who hath been exercised in iron works." In another 
letter, 30 September, he says, " The furnace runs 8 tons per 
week, and their bar iron is as good as Spanish. The adventur- 
ers in England sent over one Mr. Dawes to oversee Mr. Leader, 
but he is far short of Mr. Leader. They could not agree, so he 
is returned by Teneriffe." 

[The inhabitants of Lynn desired the Court to give them a 
right understanding of a clause in a grant to the undertakers 
of the Iron Works, concerning taxes. They wished to know 
what was intended " by ffreedome from all publicke taxes, as- 
sessments, and contributions ; whether particular town taxes, 
&c. both civill and ecclesiasticall." The Court resolved that the 
meaning was to include " rates, levies, or assessments of the 
common wealth, and not of the town or church." 

[Joseph Armitage was licensed to sell wine for the year, for 
twenty nobles.] 

1649. 

[William Hooke, of Salisbury, conveys to Samuel Bennet, 
of Lynn, 15 March, "all that upland that was given him by 
arbitration betwixt Thomas Dexter and him or his father Hum- 
phrey Hooke." Humphrey Hooke was probably the Bristol 
alderman referred to as mortgagee of some of Mr. Dexter's 
lauds, under date 1640.] 

The Rev. Thomas Cobbet preached the Election Sermon 
before the Court, on the 3d of May. [And it was voted that 
" M'" Speaker, in the name of the Howse of Deputyes, render 
M'' Cobbett the thankes of the howse for his worthy paines in 
his sermon w''', at the desire of this howse, he preached on the 
day of eleccon, and declare to him it is their desire he would 
print it heere or elswhere."] 

On the 10th, the Governor and Assistants, among whom was 
Captain Robert Bridges, signed a protestation against the pre- 
vailing custom of wearing long hair, "after the manner of ruffians 
and barbarous Indians." 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1650. 225 

On the 7th of September, Nicholas Pinion was pesented at 
the Quarterly Court, for swearing. " The deposition of Quin- 
ten Pray. This deponent saith, that meeting with Nicholas 
Pinion the last Lord's day, cominge out of his corne, hee heard 
the said Pinion sware all his pumpkins were turned to squashes." 
The Court, as a comment upon Mr. Johnson's text, (p. 33, old 
edition,) '' let no man make a jest at pumpkins," fined him. 
[Elizabeth, the wife of Mr. Pinion, was, a year or two before 
this, indicted for adultery, which was then a capital offence. 
She was, however, acquitted of the graver charge ; but the 
Court, 13 May, 1648, sentenced her for swearing and lewd beha- 
vior, to " be sevearly Avhipt twise, first at Boston and then 
agayne at Lin, within one month after."] 

On the 11th of September, Matthew Stanley was tried for 
winning the affections of John Tarbox's daughter, without the 
consent of her parents. He was fined X5, with 2s. 6d. fees. 
The parents of the young woman were allowed 6s. for their 
attendance, three days. 

1650. 

In the preceding pages, I have given the names of every 
man whom I found in Lynn before the year 1650, excepting 
those who staid but a short time, and left to settle in other 
places. I shall here give a list of a few more names, which I 
find before the year 1690, and after that time they become too 
numerous to be continued. [But after all, a great many escaped 
the notice of Mr. Lewis. And I began to prepare a list of addi- 
tions, following his plan of giving brief notices. It was soon 
found, however, that even this would require more space than 
could be allowed. And hence, it was concluded to say a word 
or two concerning a few whose lives became of importance in 
our history, and then prepare as complete a list as possible of 
the surnames of all settlers down to the year 1700. Such a list 
will be found at the close of the volume. And it cannot be 
doubted that it will prove useful as the foundation for future 
inquiries. It would be altogether too venturesome to claim 
that the list is perfect, though great labor and care have been 
bestowed upon it.] 

Samuel Appletox, Jr. — was here from 1677 to 1688, in con- 
nection with the Iron Works, which he owned at that time. He 
was a descendant of John Appulton, who died at Great Wal- 
dingfield, in 1414. The following record of the family is from 
the old volume of Lynn Records which was discovered by mc, 
after it had been lost for many years. "Mr. Samuell Apleton, 
Junior, and Mis Elizabeth Whittingham, the Daughter of Mr. 
William Whittingham, Marchant, in Boston, was married the 
19th of June, 1682. Mary, the Da,ughter of Mr. Samuell Ap- 

15 



226 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1650. 

pleton and of Elizabeth his wiffe, was born into this world the 30 
of March, 1683. Hannah, ther Daughter, was born the first of 
November, 1684. Elizabeth, their daughter, was ^orn the 
10 of July, 1687." He removed to Boston in 1688 ; and was 
the ancestor of the very respectable family of Appletons in that 
city. 

William Baeber — married Elizabeth Kirk, 4 May, 1673. He 
had two children; Elizabeth, born 1 Nov. 1673; William, b. 8 
Jan. 1674. 

Thomas Beal — had two sons. William married widow Mary 
Hart, 5 March, 1684. Samuel married Patience Lovell, March 
28, 1682. 

Thomas Berry — whose wife's name was Elizabeth — had two 
sons ; Thomas, born 14 March, 1695 ; and Samuel, born 25 June, 
1697. His descendants remain. 

John Blaney — married Elizabeth Purchis, in November, 
1678. He had a son Joseph, whose descendants live at Swamp- 
scot. 

Samuel Bly — married Lois Ivory, 19 Dec. 1678, and died 
31 Dec. 1693. He had two sons, Theophilus and Samuel. 

Thomas Brewer — married Elizabeth Graves, 4 Dec. 1682, 
and had six children ; Mar}'-, Rebecca, Mary again, Crispus, Tho- 
mas, and John. 

John Henry Burchsted — a native of Silesia — married Mary, 
widow of Nathaniel Kertland, 24 April, 1690. Henry, his son, 
was born 3 Oct. 1690. They were both eminent physicians, 
and lived on the south side of Essex street, between High and 
Pearl. [There were two sons, both physicians. One was a 
surgeon in the British Navy ; the other was Dr. Henry, of Lynn, 
who also had a son Henry, a physician.] Dr. John Henry 
Burchsted died 20 Sept. 1721, aged 64. The following is his 
epitaph : 

Silesia to New England sent this man, 
To do their all that any healer can, 
But he who conquered all diseases must 
Find one who throws him down into the dust. 
A chemist near to an adeptist come, 
Leaves here, thrown by, his caput mortuum. 
Reader, physicians die as others do ; 
Pi-epare, for thou to this art hastening too. 

Thomas Burrage — married in 1687, and had six children; 
Elizabeth, John, Thomas, Mary, Bethiah, and Ruth. 

John Coats — married Mary Witherdin, 14 April, 1681, and 
had two children, Mary and John. 

Philip Gifford — married Mary Davis, 30 June, 1684. He 
had two children, Philip and Mary. 

Zaccheus Gould — had a son Daniel, born about 1650, who 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1650. 227 

married a lady whose name was Elizabeth, and who died 3 Aug. 
1691. 

John Gowing — was married in 1682; his wife's name was 
Joanna, and he had seven children ; John, Thomas, Elizabeth, 
Samuel, Joanna, Lois, and Timothy. 

Samuel Hart — married Mary Witteridge, 29 Jan, 1673, and 
had two children ; John and William. [In a deposition of Mr. 
Hart, sworn to 27 Oct. 1653, he calls himself about thirty-one 
y^ears of age, and says that he was sent over by the Company, 
to the Iron Works. The two sons mentioned by Mr. Lewis 
were children by his second wife, and both died young. He 
had a previous wife, also named Mary, who died 24 Dec. 1671, 
by whom he had children — Mary, who died in 1657; Hannah, 
born in April, 1657; Joseph b. 10 April, 1659; Abigail, b. 15 
Nov. 1660; John, b. 3 Aug. 1666, who died the next year; Re- 
becca, b. 27 Jan. 1668; Ezekiel, b. 28 April, 1669, who died in 
infancy. Savage seems to think his second wife was Mary 
Whiting. But I have no doubt Mr, Lewis is correct in stating 
it to be Witteridge. Mr. Hart himself died 25 June, 1683. The 
son Joseph, named as born 10 April, 1659, married, 24 June, 
1685, Ruth Chadwell, and had children — Ruth, born 4 July, 
1687; Joseph, b, 12 Sept. 1689; Moses, b, 25 Dec. 1691 ; Elias, 
b. 30 Sept, 1695; Ruth, again, b. 3 April, 1697; Aaron, b. 17 
Aug. 1700; Edmund, b. 18 Oct. 1702; Benjamin, b. 21 April, 
1705 ; Samuel, b. 15 Nov. 1707. This last named Samuel mar- 
ried Phebe Ivory, and the Joseph spoken of on another page, 
was a child by this marriage. He, Joseph, married Eunice, 
daughter of Samuel Burrill, and granddaughter, of Hon, Ebene- 
zer, whose farm embraced the beautiful estate of E, R Mudge, 
at Swampscot, and had children — Anna, born 12 April, 1767; 
(who married Joseph Lye, and was grandmother of Amos P. 
Tapley, president of the City Bank) ; Joseph, b. 1 Nov. 1768 ; 
Eunice, b. 8 Oct. 1770; (who married David Tufts, who for many 
years ran an express wagon to Marblehead, and was the first 
regular Lynn express driver) ; Phebe, b. 12 June, 1773 ; Burrill, 
b. 12 Nov. 1775 ; Samuel, b. 2 May, 1778 ; Sarah, b. 24 Jan, 1781 ; 
(mother of the writer); John, b. 8 Dec, 1783; Joseph Burrill, b. 
8 Oct. 1788. The Aaron named above as born 17 Aug. 1700, 
was father of Edmund Hart, who built the famous frigate Con- 
stitution. For something further concerning the Harts see 
other dates.] 

Thomas Ivory — had two sons, Thomas and John, He died 
18 July, 1690, [Mr, Ivory came in 1638, His wife's name was 
Ann, and he had daughters, Lois, Ruth, and Sarah, Lois mar- 
ried, 10 May, 1656, John Burrill, and was the favored mother 
of Hon. John Burrill, the " beloved speaker," and Hon. Ebene- 
zer, his brother; notices of whom may be found elsewhere in 



228 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1650. 

this volume. Ruth married Theophilus Bailey, and Sarah mar- 
ried Moses ChadwelL] 

Daniel King — married widow Elizabeth Corwin, of Salem. 
He died 27 May, 1672. His widow, Elizabeth, died 26 Feb. 
1677. He lived at Swampscot, and bought a large portion of 
Mr. Humfrey's farm. He had two sons ; Daniel married Tabitha 
Walker, 11 March, 1662. Ralph married Elizabeth Walker, 2 
March, 1663. [It appears by the records that this Elizabeth 
Corwin, or Curwen, as Mr. Lewis elsewhere spells it, was not a 
widow till 3 Jan. 1685 ; and in 1694, she was still living as the 
widow Elizabeth Corwin.] 

John Lyscom — had a son, Samuel, born 16 Sept. 1693. 

Daniel Needham — married in 1673, and had five children; 
Elizabeth, Edmund, Daniel, Ruth, and Mary. 

Ezekiel Needham — married Sarah King, 27 Oct. 1669, and 
had five children ; Edmund, Sarah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Ralph. 

[Mr. Lewis is evidently in error about these two Needhams. 
They were doubtless sons of Edmund Needham, who came to 
Lynn in 1639, and the same mentioned in his will copied under 
date 1640. Daniel married Ruth Chad well, 24 Feb. 1659, and 
had children, Daniel, born in 1665; Judith, b. 1667; Ezekiel, b, 
1670; Mary, b. 1672; Elizabeth, b. 1675 ;• Edmund, b. 1677; 
Daniel and Ruth, twins, b. 1680. And EzekieVs children were, 
Edinund, born in 1670; a child born in 1673, who died in infancy; 
Sarah, b. 1674; Ezekiel, b. 1676, who survived but a short time; 
Ezekiel again, b. 1677; Daniel, b. 1680; Ralph, b. 1682. I do 
not see how the error of placing Daniel's marriage in 1673, oc- 
curred.] 

Thomas Norwood — married Mary Brown, 24 Aug. 1685, and 
had six children ; Francis, Ebenezer, Mary, Thomas, Marj^, and 
Jonathan. 

George Oaks — had five children, by his wife Janet; John, 
born 31 July, 1664, Mary, Richard, Sarah, Elizabeth, and George. 

Samuel Penfield — married Mary Lewis, 30 Nov. 1675, and 
had two children, Samuel and Mary. 

John Perkins — married Anna Hutchinson, 29 Aug. 1695, 
and had five children ; Anna, John, Elizabeth, Mary, and Wil- 
liam. 

John Person — had Eleven children; James, born 28 Nov. 
1680, Tabitha, John, Rebecca, Kendall, Susanna, Mary, Thomas, 
Ebenezer, Sarah, and Abigail. 

John Phillips — had two children; John, born 3 Dec. 1689; 
Hannah, b. 6 June, 1694. He lived at Swampscot, and his 
wife's name was Hannah. He died 29 Sept. 1694. 

William Robinson — had three sons; William, born 7 Oct. 
1683; Aquila; John. 

Henry Silsbe — had three sons; Jonathan married Bethia 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G51. 229 

Marsh, 1 Jan. 1G73 ; Samuel married Mary Bistow, 4 July, 1676 ; 
Henry married Grace Eaton, 18 Nov. 1680. 

Henry Stacey — had five children; William, born 3 Jan. 1674; 
Henry, b. 1 April, 1677; Sarah, b. 3 Jan. 1678; Ebenezer, b. 
4 Jan. 1680 ; John, b. 30 Oct. 1682. 

[John Vinton — settled in Lynn as early as 1648, and was 
in some way connected with the Iron Works. His wife's name 
was Ann, and his children were, Eleanor, born in May, 1648 ; 
John, b. 2 March, 1650; William, b. in April, 1652; Blaise, b. 
22 April, 1654 ; Ann, b. 4 April, 1656 ; Elizabeth, b. in Jan. 
1658; Sarah, b. 16 Sept. 1662. Eleanor married Isaac Rams- 
dell, of Lynn. John married Hannah Green, of Maiden, and 
removed to that place. He Avas an iron worker, acquired a 
large property, and is now considered to be the progenitor of 
almost all who at the present time bear the surname in the 
country, including those eminent brothers, Rev. Dr. Alexander 
H. and Rev. Dr. Francis Vinton. One of the flimily, a number 
of years since, collected the names of more than a thousand 
of his descendants. Blaise served in the Indian war of 1675, 
and is supposed to have perished then. The Vinton family is, 
no doubt, of Huguenot origin.] 

Joshua Wait — married Elizabeth Mansfield, 10 Jan. 1675, 
and had two children, Moses and Mary. 

Abraham Wellman — whose wife's name was Elizabeth — 
had a son born, 3 May, 1676. 

Domingo Wight — a colored man, had three children; Mary, 
born 31 Aug. 1675 ; Joseph, b. 23 May, 1678 ; Hannah, b. 5 Sept. 
1679. 

[Mr. Whiting, Mr. Gobbet, and four other ministers, send a 
letter to Cromwell, 31 December, in which they say, ''since 
your honor hath so large a heart given you of the Lord as to 
desire you to build him a temple amidst the ruinous heaps of 
Ireland, we know not but we may attend this providence of the 
Lord, hoping that as we came by call of God to serve him here, 
so if the Lord's mind shall clearly appear to give us a sufiicient 
call and encouragement to remove unto Ireland, to serve the 
Lord Jesus Christ there, we shall cheerfully and thankfully em- 
brace the same."] 

1651. 

Mr. Richard Leader, the agent for the Iron Works, was ar- 
'raigned by the Court, on the seventh of May, for reproaching 
Governor Endicott, the Court, and the church at Lynn. In 
their first excitement, the Court fined him two hundred pounds, 
which was afterward reduced to fifty. [The ofience would be 
more exactly stated by employing the words of the record : 
'* This Courte . . . doe finde that, contrary to the lawe of God 



230 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1651. 

and the lawes heere eastablished he hath threatened, and in a 
high degree reproached and slaundered the Courts, magistrates, 
and gouernment of this eomon weale, and defamed the toune 
and church of Lynne, also afronted and reproached the counsta- 
ble in the execution of his office." He was likewise bound in 
the sum of IQOl. for the payment of the fine, and for his good 
behavior " toward the gouernment and people of this jurisdiccon 
whiles he remajnes in this collonje, till the next sessions of thia 
Courte." And at the next general session, in October, 1651, 
the whole thing came to an end. It appeared that the obnox- 
ious words were " spoken in the midst of the sea, going hence to 
England."] After this, Mr. John Gilford appears as agent of 
the Iron Works. He married the widow Margaret Temple, and 
had a son Philip. [He probably came from the Braintree works. 
See deposition of Henry Leonard, page 207. And for some 
years he seems to have been in a sea of trouble, arising, most 
likely, from pecuniary embarrassment. He was subjected to 
long and troublesome litigation regarding a bond given while 
in England. In a petition to the Court, in 1684, he states that he 
•' hath now been a prisoner upon execution fewer yeares and 
seuen moneths," and without relief from the Court, will "inev- 
itably perish in prison for want of meet suppljes for his releife." 
So rigid were the old laws touching imprisonment for debt. It 
may have been suspected, however, that he had property fraud- 
ulently secreted, for he declares in his petition that it had 
not been shown that he had any estate concealed, by which be 
might relieve himself The Court " having weighed the neces- 
sitous and perishing condition of the prisoner," ordered that 
under certain conditions, and unless the opposing parties came 
forward and performed what was required of them, he should 
be released in ten days.] 

On taking the management of the Iron Works, Mr. Gilford 
raised the dam, which caused the water to overflow six acres 
of " plowland " belonging to Mr. Adam Hawkes. For this, on 
the 20th of June, an agreement was made, in which Mr. Hawkes 
was allowed <£8 for damages. 

On Sunday, the twentieth of July, three men of the Baptist 
persuasion, whose names were John Clarke, John.Crandall, and 
Obadiah Holmes, came from Newport, and went to the house 
of William Witter, at Swampscot, where Mr. Clark preached, 
administered the sacrament, and rebaptized Mr. Witter. This 
being reported to the authorities, two constables went down to 
Swampscot to apprehend them as disturbers of the peace. They 
carried a warrant which had been granted by Hon. Robert 
Bridges. " By virtue hereof, you are required to go to the 
house of William Witter, and so to search from house to house 
for certain erroneous persons, being strangers, and them to 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1651. 231 

apprehend, and in safe custody to keep, and tomorrow morning 
at 8 o'clock, to bring before me." Mr. Clark says, " while I 
was yet speaking, there comes into the house where we, were, 
two constables, who with their clamorous tongues make an 
interruption, and more uncivilly disturbed us than the pursui- 
vants of the old English bishops were wont to do." In the 
afternoon, they were taken to Mr. Whiting's meeting, where 
they refused to uncover their heads. Mr. Bridges ordered a 
constable to take off their hats, when one of them attempted to 
speak, but was prevented. 

At the close of the meeting, one of them made some remarks, 
after which they were taken to the Anchor Tavern, and guarded 
through the night. In the morning, they were sent to Boston 
and imprisoned. On the thirty-first, the Court of Assistants 
sentenced Mr. Holmes to pay a fine of thirty pounds, Mr. Clark 
of twenty, and Mr. Crandall of five. The fines of Clark and 
Crandall were paid ; but Mr. Holmes refused to pay his, or suffer 
it to be paid, and was retained in prison till September, when he 
was publicly whipped. When brought to the place of execu- 
tion, he requested liberty to speak to the people, but the presid- 
ing officer, one Flint, rightly named, refused, and ordered him 
to be stripped. His friends brought some wine, which they 
requested him to drink, but he declined it, lest the spectators 
should attribute his fortitude to drink. The whip was made 
of three cords, and the executioner spat three times in his own 
hands, that he might not fail to honor justice. In a manuscript 
left by Governor Joseph Jenks, it is written that "Mr. Holmes 
was whipped 30 stripes, and in such an unmerciful manner, that 
for many days, if not some weeks, he could not take rest, but as 
he lay upon his knees and elbows, not being able to suffer any 
part of the body to touch the bed." As the man began to lay 
on the stripes, Holmes said, " though my flesh should fliil, yet 
my God will not fail." He then prayed, " Lord, lay not this sin 
to their charge." When he was released, two spectators, John 
Shaw and John Hasel, went up and took hold of his hand to 
sympathize with him, for which they were fined forty shillings 
each. Such is the bitterness of religious persecution. Dr. John 
Clark was one of the most respectable physicians in Rhode 
Island, and wrote a book entitled " 111 News from New Eng- 
land," with a full account of this persecution. 

Mr. Witter was presented at the Salem court, on the twenty- ■ 
seventh of November, for neglecting discourses and being re- * 
baptized. 

On the fourteenth of October, the Court made an order 
against " the intolerable excess and bravery " of dress. They 
ordered that no person whose estate did not exceed £200 should 
wear any great boots, gold or silver lace, or buttons, or silk 



232 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1651. 

hoods, ribbons or scarfs, under a penalty of ten shillings. [And 
the Court also passed the following: "Whereas it is observed 
there are many abuses and disorders by dancing in ordinaries, 
whether mixt or unmixt, vppon marriage of some persons. This 
Court doth order that henceforward there shall be no dancing 
vppon such occasion or at other tjmes in ordinaries, vppon the 
pajne or penaltje of five shillings for every person that shall so 
daunce in ordinarjes,"] 

" In answer to the petition of George Indian of Lynn, This 
Court refers him to bring his action in some inferiour court, 
against any that ungenerously withold any land from him." 

The foHowing description of Lynn is from ''The Wonder 
Working Providence," a work published this year, by Mr. Ed- 
ward Johnson of Woburn : 

Her scituation is neere to a River, whose strons: freshet at breaking up of 
"Winter, filleth all her Eankes, and with a furious Torrent ventes itself into the 
Sea. This Towne is furnished with Mineralls of divers kinds, especially Iron 
and Lead. The forme of it is almost square, onely it takes too large a run 
into the Laud-ward, (as most townes do.) It is filled with about one Hundred 
Houses for dwellin<i. There is also an Iron Mill in constant use, but as for 
Lead, they have tried but little yet. Their meeting house beiug on a Levell 
Land undefended from the cold Nordi west wind, and therefore made with 
steps descending into the earth ; their streets are straite and comly, yet but 
thin of Houses f the people mostly inclining to Husbandry, have built many 
Farmes Remote. There Cattell exceedingly muhiplied. Goates, which were 
in great esteeme at their first connning, are now almost quite banished, and 
now Horse, kine, and Sheep are most m request with them. 

In his remarks on manufactures, Mr. Johnson says : 

All other trades have fallen into then* ranks and places, to their great ad- 
vantage, especially Coopers and Shoemakers, who had either of them a 
corporation irrantcd, iuriching themselves very much. As for Tanners and 
Shoemakers it being naturalized into their occupations to have a higher reach 
in managing these manifactures then other men in New England are, having 
not changed their nature in this, between them both they have kept men to 
their stand hidierto, almost doubling the price of their commodities, according 
to the rate they were sold for in England, and yet the plenty of Leather is 
beyond what thev had there, counting the number of the people, but the 
transportation of "Boots and Shoes into forraigu parts hath vented all, how- 
ever. 

The manufacture of shoes had not, at this time, become a 
principal business at Lynn. A few persons practised the em- 
ployment regularly ; but they traded with merchants at Boston, 
and did not export for themselves. The shoes which they made 
were principally of calf skin, for morocco had not been intro- 
duced. Cloth was worn only by the most wealthy ; and if a 
lady in the more common ranks of life obtained a pair of stuff 
shoes, to grace the nuptial ceremony, they were afterward laid 
aside, and carefully preserved through life, as something too 
delicate for ordinary use. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1652. 233 



1652. 

Wenepoykin, the Lynn Sagamore, on the first of April, mort- 
gaged "all that Tract or Neck of Land commonly called Nahant," 
to Nicholas Davison of Charlestown, " for twenty pounds ster- 
ling dew many yeer." The deed was signed with his mark, 
which has somewhat the form of a capital H in writing. 

[John Hathorne having succeeded Joseph Armitage "in the 
ordinary at Lin, and so standing bound to perform his engage- 
ment in respect of what he was to pajr for drawinge of wine, 
desiring a remittment of what is due for the last halfe yeare past, 
received this answer: that he should only pay after the rate 
of fifty shillings per butt for what he hath drawne to this time." 
This appears to have been the same John Hathorne who was 
proceeded against, about this time, for forgery, and confessed 
himself guilty. Having petitioned, in May, 1653, for remission 
or mitigation of the penalty, the General Court ordered that in 
lieu of the prescribed punishment he should " pay double dama- 
ges, which is twenty pounds, to the party wronged and ten 
pounds to the common wealth, to be forthwith levied ; and to 
be disfranchised. If he doth not submitt to the sentence, then 
the law that pvides against fi"orgery is to take place in euery 
particular."] 

At the Quarterly Court, on the 29th of June, the following 
presentments were made. " We present Ester, the wife of Jo- 
seph Jynkes, Junior, ffor wearing silver lace ; " and " Robert 
Burges for bad corne grinding." Other persons were presented 
for wearing great boots and silk hoods. 

Mr. Gifford this year increased the height of the dam at the 
Iron Works, by which ten acres of Mr. Hawkes's land were 
overflowed ; for which he agreed to give sixteen loads of hay 
yearly, and 200 cords of wood. Afterward he agreed to give 
him X7, " which ends all, except that 10s. is to be given him 
yearly." By this agreement the water was to be so kept " that 
it may not ascend the top of the upper floodgates in the pond 
higher than within a foot and a halfe of the top of the great 
Rock that lies in the middle of the pond before the gates." 

This year a mint was established at Boston, for coining silver. 
The pieces had the word Massachusetts, with a pine tree on 
one side, and the letters N. E. Anno 1652, and TIL VL or XH. 
denoting the number of pence, on the other. The dies for this 
coinage were made by Joseph Jenks, at the Iron Works. 

[The coinage was continued for many years, the mint not 
having been closed till about 1686, according to Mr. Felt, or 
before 1706, according to others. But the dies were not alter- 
ed, at least for some years ; and perhaps the date never was, 
for reasons patent to our shrewd fathers. And hence a large 



234 ANNALS OF LYNN. — 1653. 

portion of the pine-tree coins now in the cabinets of the curious, 
do not bear sure evidence of the precise date at which they were 
struck. It is certain that the date 1652 was retained as late as 
1685. This coinage would, under most circumstances, have 
subjected those engaged in it to heavy punishment, for it in- 
fringed a prerogative usually guarded with the utmost jealousy 
by the sovereign. But it will be observed that it was com- 
menced during the Puritanical Interregnum, and affords addi- 
tional evidence that at that period almost perfect independence 
was assumed by the colonists. It is stated by Randolph, 1676, 
that Massachusetts established this mint, in 1652, to commemo- 
rate her independence ; and adds that the adjacent colonies were 
subject to her. Hugh Peters was a fast friend of Massachusetts ; 
and having much influence with Cromwell, it was probably in a 
great measure through his exertions that she came so near being 
declared an independent commonwealth. When Charles II, came 
to the throne he was greatly offended at the high-handed pro- 
ceedings. Sir Thomas Temple, who knew the necessities of the 
colonists, and was friendly to them, stated to the king that 
money was extremely scarce in New England, and during the 
civil wars but little could be obtained from the mother country. 
And he exhibited pieces of the pine-tree money, " What is 
that?" asked the king, pointing to the pine-tree that adorned 
one side of the coin. " That," answered Temple, with more 
shrewdness than honesty, " is the royal oak that sheltered your 
majesty," This well-timed insinuation regarding the loyalty of 
the colonists so pleased the monarch that he gleefully exclaimed, 
" Honest dogs ! " and let the matter pass for the time. Events 
that took place soon after, however, indicated that he had 
reached a temper to use the noun without the adjective. 

[The pine-tree shilling, as assayed at the United States mint 
proved to be 926-1000 fine, and to weigh almost exactly sixty- 
six grains ; its value, therefore, would be just about seventeen 
cents of our present money, 

[A comet appeared in Orion, 9 December, and remained an 
object of wonder for about a fortnight, or " till Mr, Cotton 
died," 

[It was this year required that negroes and Indians should 
perform military duty.] 

16 5 3. 

On the 17th of March, the boundary line between Lynn and 
Reading was established. 

Samuel Bennet, carpenter, sold his corn mill to Thomas 
Wheeler, 1 April, for X220. 

This year, Mr. Thomas Savage, of Boston, attached the Iron 
Works, at Lynn, for the amount owed to him and Henry Webb. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1654, 1655. 235 

On the 14tb of September, a special court convened at Boston, 
for the trial. Mr. Savage obtained for himself £894 2s. and for 
Henry Webb, .£1351 Gs. 9d. The total account of Mr. John 
Gifford, agent for the Company, was £16' 284 7s. 4d. 

[The Court ordered, 18 May, that Lynn be allowed ten pounds 
per annum, " so long as the Iron Works shall be continued," 
with a qualification. relating to a former grant.] 

1654. 

The selectmen of Boston agreed witl\,Mr. Joseph Jenks "for 
an Ingine to carry water in case of fire." This was the first 
fire engine made in America. 

In August, the Court fixed the prices of grain ; Indian corn 
at 3s., rye and peas at 4s., and wheat and barley at 5s. a bushel. 

At a town meeting, on the 28th of December, a grant was 
made to Edmund Farrington, allowing him the privilege to build 
a grist-mill, in Water Hill street, on condition that grain should 
be seasonably and faithfully ground ; otherwise the privilege 
was to revert to the town. [Mr. Lewis makes a mistake in 
locating this privilege at Water Hill. The grant was for a tide 
mill, which of course could not have been where he states. It 
was where Chase's mill was afterward built, at the point where 
Summer street crosses the stream, a little above Needham'a 
Landing. Mr. John Raddin now (1864) owns the mill there. 

[Mr. Whiting and Mr. Cobbet, " elders of Lyn," were appoint- 
ed overseers of Harvard College.] 

1655. 

This year Edmund Farrington built his mill on Water Hill. 
A pond was dug by hand, and the water brought from the old 
brook, by a little canal about half a mile in length. This mill 
was for many years the property of Benjamin Phillips, and in 
1836 was purchased by Henry A. Breed, who dug out a new 
pond of more than an acre, for a reservoir. [Nehemiah Berry 
purchased the property a number of years since, and continues 
the mill, in successful operation. It long ago, however, ceased 
to be a mere grist-mill. But Mr. Farrington did not build his 
mill here. His was a tide mill, and stood where Chase's was 
afterward built. See under date 1654. See also page 128.] 

Mr. John Gifford, agent of the Iron Company, having been 
imprisoned on account of the pecuniary affairs of that establish- 
ment, a petition was sent from London to the General Court, for 
his release. It was dated on the 27th of February and signed 
by John Becx, William Greenhill, Thomas Foley, and Phebe 
Frost. 

On the 23d of May, the General Court granted to Mr. Joseph 
Jenks a patent for an improved sythe, " for the more speedy 



23G ANNALS OF LYNN. — 1656. 

cutting of grasse, for seven years." This improvement consisted 
in lengthening the blade, making it thinner, and welding a square 
bar on the back, to strengthen it, as in the modern sythe. Be- 
fore this, the old English blade was short and thick, like a bush 
sythe. 

[The Court, 23 May, " considering the urgent occasions of 
the country respecting the bridg at Lyn," ordered that Edmund 
Batter, George Gettings, Joseph Jewett, and Thomas Laighton, 
be a committee to see that the bridge be completed forthwith. 
And the next county court was directed to apportion the charge 
to the towns in the county, according to the law made at that 
session.] 

1656. 

This year the Rev. Thomas Cobbet relinquished his connec- 
tion with the church at Lynn, and removed to Ipswich. He was 
born at Newbury, in England, 1608. Though his father Avas 
poor, he found means to gain admission at the University of 
Oxford, which he left during the great sickness in 1625, and 
became a pupil of Dr. Twiss, in his native town. He was after- 
ward a minister of the established Church. He came to Lynn 
in 1637, and was welcomed by Mr. Whiting, with whom he had 
commenced a friendship in England. Mr. Mather says, '' they 
were almost every day together, and thought it a long day if 
they were not so ; the one rarely travelling abroad without the 
other." Mr. Cobbet preached at Lynn nineteen years, and 
twenty-nine at Ipswich. In 1666, he preached the election 
sermon, from 11. Chronicles, xv. 2. He died on Thursday, 5 
NovemlDcr, 1685, and was buried on the next Monday. At his 
funeral were expended, one barrel of wine, X6 8s. ; two barrels 
of cider, lis.; 82 pounds of sugar, X2 Is.; half a cord of wood, 
4s. ; four dozen pairs of gloves, " for men and women," X5 4s. ; 
with " some spice and ginger for the cider." It was the custom 
at funerals to treat all the company with cider, which in cold 
weather was heated and spiced. In the year 1711, the town 
of Lynn paid for " half a barrel of cider for the widow Dis- 
paw's funeral. Wine was distributed when it could be afforded. 
Gloves were commonly given to the bearers and the principal 
mourners, and by the more wealthy, rings were sometimes 
added. Mr. Cobbet appears to have been much esteemed. 
The following epitaph to his memory is one of the best of Mr. 
Mather's productions : 

Sta viator ; thesaurus hie jacet ; 

Thomas Cobbetus ; 

Cujus, nosti preces potentissimas, ac mores probatissimos, 

Si es Nov-Anglus, 

Mirare, si pietatem colas ; 

Sequere, si felicitatem optes. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1656. 237 

Stop, traveler, a treasure 's buried here ; 
Our Thomas Cohbet claims the tribute tear. 
His prayers were powerful, liis manners pure, 
As thou, if of New Enjihuid's sons, art sure. 
If thou roverest piety, aduiire ; 
And imitate, if bliss be thy desire. 

Mr. Cobbet possessed good learning and abilities, and wrote 
more books than any one of the early ministers of New England. 
Among his works, were the following: 

1. A Treatise Asserting the Right of the Magistrates to a 
Negative Vote on the Resolves of the Representatives. 1643. 

2. A Defence of Infant Baptism. 1645. This is said to have 
been an admirable summary of the principal arguments for and 
against the subject, and an able exposition of the error of those 
who deny the validity of this important rite. 

3. The Civil Magistrates' Power in Matters of Religion, Mod- 
estly Debated, with a Brief Answer to a certain slanderous 
pamphlet, called 111 News from New England ; containing six 
pages of grievous dedication to Oliver Cromwell. 1653. 

4. A Practical Discourse on Prayer. 1654. Mr. Mather 
remarks that, '' of all the books written by Mr. Cobbet, none 
deserves more to be read by the world, or to live till the gen- 
eral burning of the world, than that of Prayer." 

5. A Fruitful and Useful Discourse, touching the Honor due 
from Children to their Parents, and the Duty of Parents toward 
their Children. London, 1656. 

6. A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Order and Discipline. 

7. A Treatise on the First, Second, and Fifth Command- 
ments. 

The following beautiful picture of the enduring affection of a 
mother is from the discourse on the duties of children : '' Des- 
pise not thy mother when she is old. When she Avas young, 
yea, when she was middle aged, thou prisedst, and respectedst, 
and did reverence and obey her; do it as well when she is old; 
hold on doing of it to the last. Age may wear and waste a 
mother's beauty, strength, parts, limbs, senses, and estate ; but 
her relation of a mother is as the sun when he goeth forth in his 
might, for the ever of this life, that is, always in its meridian, 
and knoweth no evening. The person ifiay be gray headed, 
but her motherly relation is ever in its flourish. It may be 
autumn, yea, winter, with the woman ; but with the mother, as 
a mother, it is always spring." 

In descanting on the duties of children, he says : •'•'How tender 
were your parents of their dealings with men, to discharge a 
good conscience therein ; of their very outward garb, what they 
ware, and of what fashion, and the like ; but you their children 
regard not what you do, nor how you deal with others, nor what 
you wear, nor of what fashion, so the newest. Did ever your 



238 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1656. 

good father or grandfather wear such ruffianly hair upon their 
heads? or did your godly parents frisk from one new fangled 
fashion to another, as you do ? " 

The following anecdote is related by Mr. Mather. '' The un- 
grateful inhabitants of Lynn one year passed a town vote, that 
they could not allow their ministers above thirty pounds apiece 
that year, for their salary ; and behold, the God who will not be 
mocked, immediately caused the town to lose three hundred 
pounds in that one specie of their cattle, by one disaster." With 
his characteristic carelessness, Mr. Mather dees not give any 
date to this fact, [nor any account of the disaster.] 

Mr. Cobbet was much respected for his piety and the fervency 
of his prayers. One of the soldiers in Philip's war, whose name 
was Luke Perkins, says that when he was detached, in 1675, to' 
go against the Indians, he went to request the prayers of Mr.' 
Cobbet, who prayed that the company might be preserved, and 
they all returned in safety. 

Some women of his neighborhood were one day attempting 
some trick of witchery, when their minister appeared. " There," 
said one of them, " we can do no more ; there is old crooked 
back Cobbet a coming." 

For a considerable time, he was in the practice of walking 
from Ipswich to Boston, once in two weeks to attend Mr. Nor- 
ton's lecture, and to see his old friend, Mr. Whiting. He used 
to remark that it was worth a journey to Boston, " to hear one 
of Mr. Norton's good prayers." [Mr. Lewis makes a singular 
mistake here. It was not Mr. Cobbet who made these pedestri- 
an excursions, but a pious layman of Ipswich, one of Mr. Nor- 
ton's old parishioners. Mr. Norton had bee^ minister at Ipswich 
fourteen years, leaving there in 1652.] 

The parents of Mr. Cobbet came over some time after his 
arrival. The name of his wife was Elizabeth, and he had four 
sons; Samuel, who graduated in 1663; Thomas, John, and 
Eliezer. 

Thomas Cobbet, Jr., who was a seaman at Portsmouth, was 
taken prisoner by the Indians, in 1676, and carried to Penobscot. 
After an absence of several weeks, he was released hy Madock- 
awando, the sachem, who received a red coat as a present. On 
this subject, Mr. Cobbet thus writes, in his letter to Increase 
Mather: ''As to what you quere, whether there were not an- 
swers to prayer respecting my captured son. Surely I may truly 
say his wonderfull preservations in all that 9 weeks time after 
he was taken, and deliverance at the last, they will be put on 
that account as answers to prayer; for he was constantly plead- 
ed for by Mr. Moody in his congregation for that end, from his 
being first taken (of which they first heard) till his redemption. 
So was he in like sort pleaded for by Mr. Shepard in his congre- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1656. 239 

gation at Charlestowne, and by my desire signified that way, by 
Mr. Phillips, Mr. Higginson, Mr. Buckley, in tbeyr congregations, 
and I doubt not by yourself, Mr. Thatcher, Mr. Allin, in the 3 
Boston churches, besides the prayers going constantly that ^,vay 
for liim in the families and closets of godly ones, which heard 
of his captivity and hazard. He was constantly, as there was 
cause, remembered in our congregation for that end, and which 
I may not omit to mention : When Mr Moody, by post sent 
hither, sent me the first news of his taking by the Indians, and 
their further rage in those parts, calling out for further prayers — 
;I presently caused one of our Deacons to call to my house that 
ivery day, as many godly men and theyr wives as were near us, 
to spend some hours in prayer about the same; about 30 met; 
several of them prayed ; Capt. Lord was with them in it, and 
with me also, who began and ended that service ; and having 
beg'd some amends of our wasted son Eliezer at home as a 
pledge of the desired mercies to our captived son abroad as 
granted, my heart I must acknowledge to the Lord's praise, was 
sweetly guided in the course of that service, and I was even 
persuaded that the Lord had heard our prayers in that respect, 
and could not but express as much to some of our godly friends ; 
so was one of our sisters (as since she informed my wife,) as 
confidently persuaded that she should ere long see him returned, 
and that in comfortable plight, as if he were already come." He 
says that his son Eliezer began to amend, " insomuch that he 
who before could not walk up and down the town without stag- 
ering, could yet walk up that high hill (which you know of,) 
that is by Mr. Norton's, now our house." 

The great age to which many of the early settlers lived, is a 
subject worthy of notice. Boniface Burton died in 1669, at the 
great age of 113 years; an age to which no person in Lynn, 
since his time, has attained. Joseph Rednap lived till he Avas 
110 years of age, in the full possession of his faculties. In the 
year 1635, when he was in his 80th year, we find a vote of the 
town granting him lands at Nahant, for the purpose of pursuing 
the trade of fishing; and he seems as enterprising at that age 
as if he were just beginning active life, [I am afraid that much 
exaggeration was formerly dealt in with respect to the ages 
of old people. It is quite certain that Mr. Rednap, for instance, 
died at about the age of 90; see notice of him on page 127.] 
Henry Styche was an efficient workman at the Iron Foundry in 
the year 1653, and was then 103 years of age. How many 
years longer he lived, history has not informed us, Christopher 
Hussey was pursuing his active and useful life, in 1685, when 
he was shipwrecked on the coast of Florida, at the age of 87 
years. This great longevity and good health of the early set- 
tlers, may probably be referred to the regularity of their habits, 



240 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1657. 

and the simplicity of their diet. They seldom ate meat, and 
they generally retired to rest soon after sunset. A pitch pine 
torch in the chimney corner, served to illuminate the common 
room, until the family prayer was said ; and then the boys and 
girls retired to their respective chambers, to undress in the dark. 
Nor did they steam themselves to death over hot iron. Cook 
stoves were unknown, and no fire was put into a meeting-house, 
except the Quaker, until 1820. 

[Robert Keayne, the wealthy merchant of Boston, before 
alluded to, died this year. He appears to have had a high re- 
gard for many of the Lynn people, arising, perhaps, from asso- 
ciations pertaining to his only son, Benjamin, who resided hero 
for a time. In his will appear the following bequests : " To 
m' Whiting, one of the Teaching Eld''s at Lyn, fforty shillings." 
" To m'^ Cobit, the other Teaching Elder at Lyn, forty shillings." 
In a codicil, dated 28 Dec. 1653, he adds: *' 1 have forgott one 
Loveing Couple more that came not to my minde till I was 
shutting vp ; that is Cap* Bridges & wife, [of Lynn,] to whom I 
give forty shillings." Also, " To Robert Rand, of Lyn, Some- 
time my Servant, forty shillings."] 4 

1657. 

Having purchased Nahant of the Indian Sagamore, for a suit 
of clothes, Thomas Dexter was not disposed to sit down in 
unconcern, when the town made known their intention of divid- 
ing it into lots for the benefit of all the people. At a town 
meeting, held 24 February, 1657, the following order was taken : 
" It was voted that Nahant should be laid out in planting lotts, 
and every householder should have equal in the dividing of it, 
noe man more than another; and every person to clear his lot 
of wood in six years, and he or they that do not clear their lotts 
of the wood, shall pay fifty shillings for the towne's use. Alsoe 
every householder is to have his and their lotts for seaven 
years, and it is to be laid down for a pasture for the towne ; 
and in the seventh, every one that hath improved his lott by 
planting, shall then, that is, in the seventh year, sow their lott 
with Enghsh corne ; and in every acre of land as they improve, 
they shall, with their English corne, sow one bushel of English 
hay seed, and soe proportionable to all the land that is improved, 
a bushel of hay seed to one acre of land, and it is to be remem- 
bered, that no person is to raise any kind of building at all ; and 
for laying out this land there is chosen Francis Ingals, Henry 
Collins, James Axee, Adam Hawckes, Lieut. Thomas Marshall, 
John Hathorne, Andrew Mansfield." (Mass. Archives.) 

This record is valuable, as it exhibits several interesting par- 
ticulars. It shows that the purchase of Nahant, by Mr. Dexter, 
was not considered valid — it exhibits the most impartial speci- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1657. 241 

men of practical democracy in this country, the lots Leing ap- 
•iportioned to each householder equally, " noe man more than 
another" — it furnishes an explanation of the cause and manner 
of Nahant being so entirely cleared of the beautiful wood which 
once grew upon it — and it shows that Nahant was early planted 
with English corn, that is, with wheat. On the passing of this 
order, Mr. Dexter commenced a suit against the town for occu- 
pying it. The people held a town meeting, in which they ap- 
pointed Thomas Laighton, George Keysar, Robert Coats, and 
Joseph Armitage, a committee to defend their right. At the 
Salem Court, which began on the third of June, the following 
depositions were given: 

1 . " Edward Ireson, a«red 57 yeares or there abouts, sworno, saitli, tl)at 
liveing witli Mr. Thomas Dexter, 1 carried the fencing stuffe which master 
Dexter sett up to fence in Nahant, liis part with the rest of tlie Inliabitants, 
and being and living with mr. Dexter, I never heard him say a word of liis 
buying of Nahant, but only his interest in Nahant for liis fencing with the rest 
of the inhabitants; this was about 25 yeares since; and after this fence was 
sett up at nahant, all the new comers were to give two shillings sixpence a 
head or a piece vnto the setters up of the fence or mhabitants, and some of 
Salem brought Cattell alsoe to nahant, which were to give soe." 

2. "The Testimony of Samuel Whiting, senior, of the Towne of Linne, 
Saith, that Mr. Humphries did desire that mr. Eaton and his company might 
not only buy Nahant, but the whole Towne of Linne, and that mr. Cobbet and 
he and others of the Towne went to mr. Eaton to offer both to him, and to 
conjmit themselves to the providence of God; and at tliat time there was none 
that laid claim to or pleaded any interest in nahant. Save the town, and at 
that time farmer Dexter lived in the Towne of Linne." 

The person to whom Lynn was thus offered for sale, was The- 
ophilus Eaton, afterward governor of Connecticut. He came 
to Boston, 26 June, 1637, and went to New Haven, in August, 
of the same year. 

5. "The Deposition of Daniel Salmon, aged about 45 yeares, saith, that he 
being master Humphreyes seiTant, and about 23 yeares agon, there being 
wolves in nahant, commanded that the whole traine' band goe to drive them 
out, because it did belong to the wliole towne, and farmer Dexter's men beino- 
then at training, went with the rest." " 

4. " This I, Joseph Armitage, aged 57 or there abouts, doe testifie, that 
about fifteen or sixteen yeares agoc, wee had a general! to^vne meetinsj in Lin ; 
at that meeting there was much discourse about nahant; the men'that did' 
first fence at nahant and by an act of generall court did apprehend by fencing 
that nahant- was theires, myself by purchase haveing a part therein, alter much 
agitation in the meeting, and by persuasion of nu-. Cobbit, they that tiien did 
plead a right by fencing, did yield up all their right freely to tJie Inhabitants 
of the Towne, of which Thomas Dexter, senior, was one." 

5. " We, George Sagomore and the Sagomore of Agawam, doe testify that 
Duke William, so called, did sell all Nahant unto ffariner Dexter lor a suite 
of Cloathcs, which cloatlies fEirmer Dexter had again, and gave vnto Duke 
William, so called, 2 or 3 coates for it again." [Signed by the marks of the 
two sagamores.] 

6. " This I, Christopher Linsie, doe testifie, that Thomas Dexter bought 
Nahant of Blacke Will, or Duke William, and employed me to fence part of it 
when I lived with Thomas Dexter." 

U 16 



242 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1657. 

7. "T, John IjC'gg, aged 47 years or thereabouts, doe testifie, that when I 
was Mr. Humphreys servant, there came unto my master's house one Blackc 
Will, as wee call him, an Indian, with a compleate Suit on his backe ; I asked 
him where he had that suit ; he said he had it of ffarmer Dexter, and he had 
sould hira Nahant for it." 

Depositions were also given by Richard Walker, Edward Hol- 
yoke, George Farr, William Dixey, William Witter, John Rams- 
dell, John Hedge, William Hardier, and others. [And it is fair 
to give Mr. Dexter's own statement of his case, on the appeal. 
It was evidently drawn up by one skilled in legal proceedings: 

1. The Plaintiff pleadeth his right therein and thereto by purchase of the 
Indians, above 20 years now past, who were then the lawful owners thereof, 
as by the testimony off .Tno. Legg, Wm. Witter, George Sagamore, Sagamore 
of Aguwame. 2. The Pit. jileadeth his possession y^off by fencing and other 
improvement, as by the testimony of Wm. Witter and John Legg, Capt. Traske 
and Mrs. Whiteiug. 3. The Plaintiff humbly comendetli to the consideration 
of the Honoured Court, (1.) That the purchase was by no law tiien prohibited 
or made voyd, but hath since, by act of the General Court, Octo. 19, 1652, 
written lawes, ben confirmed as being according to God's word; .... 

also divers examples that might be instanced of sundry 

persons y* do injoy those lands, which, in the infancy of these plantacons, they 
came by their possessions in like manner. (2.) Tliat as yet no act or instru- 
ment made or signed by the Plaintiff hath appeared to manifest any alienacon 
thereof to the defendants. (3.) Tliat they are parties which testify against 
the Plaintiff, and that for and in their owne behalfe, and many of them such 
as have in a disorderly manner ingaged tliemselves in a special manner against 
the Plaintiff and his right ; as may appear by the testimony of Ri. Woodey ; 
their combinacon of assaulting his person, &c. (4.) That if there be no reme- 
dy but what they will swec- must passe as truth, (although the Plaintiff con- 
ceives it to be very false,) yet nevertheless the Plaintiff conceiveth himself to 
be wronged in that he had no part tbund for him, wlienas, by yr owne oath 
and confession, as he was an Inhabitant of Lin, so he liad a sliare with them, 
the which as yet they have not sworne, as he conceiveth, tliat he either gave it 
them or any other, and therefore seeing he sued but for his interest tlierein, 
whether more or less, he marveileth y* such a verdict should be brought against 
him, and humbly entreateth releif therefrom by this Honored Court. 

24 (G) 57. [24 Aug. 1657.] Thomas Dexter.] 

Mr. Dexter was afterward granted liberty to tap the pitch 
pine trees on Nahant, as he had done before, for the purpose 
of making tar. 

A vessel owned by Captain Thomas Wiggin, of Portsmouth, 
was wrecked on the Long Beach, and the sails, masts, anchor, 
&c. purchased by Thomas Wheeler, on the third of June. 

Sagamore Wenepoykin petitioned the General Court, on the 
twent_y-first of May, that he might possess some land, formerly 
owned by his brother, called Powder Horn Hill, in Chelsea. He 
was referred to the county court. 

[John Aldeman, of Salem, by will dated 3 July, beqiteatha 
one cow to Mr. Whiting, of Lynn, and one to Mr. Cobbet. He 
also gives " one cow and one cave to y® Indians y* Mr. Eliot 
doth preach vnto."] 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1658. 243 



1658. 

At the Court of Assistants, on the 13tli of May, the towns 
of Lynn, Reading, and Chelsea, received permission to raise a 
troop of horse, [and choose their own oiEcers " provided they 
be not fferry free, nor have five shillings yeerlj allowed them 
from the countrv, as other troopers have.''] 

At the Quarterly Court, on the 29th of June, Lieutenant 
Thomas Marshall was authorized to perform the ceremony of 
marriage, and to take testimony in civil cases. [Mr. Lewis 
seems to have taken this Lieut. Marshall to have been Capt. 
Marshall, of Lynn; but I think he was another person and resid- 
ed elsewhere. There were several of the name of Thomas 
Marshall, in the colony. Cant. Marshall, of Lynn, the jolly land- 
lord of the '* Blew Anchor" tavern, was, indeed empowered to 
perform the nuptial ceremony, but not till the next year. See 
second paragraph under date 1659. And it appears pretty cer- 
tain that at the time of his appointment there could have been 
no other in Lynn authorized to join in marriage, for the appoint- 
ment is prefaced by the declaration that there are " seuerall 
tonnes w"'in this jurisdiction who are not only remote from any 
magistrate, but also destitute of any person impowered to so- 
lemnize marriage, the want whereof is an occasion of sometjmes 
disappointment." And herein we have certain evidence that the 
early ministers had no power to marry; perhaps because the 
authorities chose to look upon marriage as a mere civil contract ; 
swerving to the opposite of those high churchmen who were 
charged with regarding it in the light of a sacrament.] 

This year there was a great earthquake in New England, 
connected with which is the following story : 

Some time previous, on a pleasant evening, a little after 
sunset, a small vessel was seen to anchor near the mouth of 
Saugus river. A boat was presently lowered from her side, into 
which four men descended, and moved up the river a considera- 
ble distance, when they landed, and proceeded directly into the 
woods. They had been noticed by only a few individuals; but 
in those early times, when the people were surrounded by dan- 
ger, and easily susceptible of alarm, such an incident Avas well 
calculated to awaken suspicion, and in the course of the evening 
the intelligence was conveyed to many houses. In the morning, 
the people naturally directed their eyes towards the shore, in 
tearch of the strange vessel — but she was gone, and no trace 
could be found either of her or her singular creAv. It was after- 
ward ascertained that, on that morning, one of the men at the 
Iron Works, on going into the foundry, discovered a paper, on 
which was written, that if a quantity of shackles, handcuffs, 
hatchets, and other articles of iron manufocture, were made and 



244 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1658 

deposited, with secresj, in a certain place in tue woods, which 
was particularly designated, an amount of silver, to their full 
value, would be found in their place. The articles were made 
in a few days, and placed in conformity with the directions. On 
the next morning they were gone, and the money was found 
according to the promise ; but though a watch had been kept, 
no vessel was seen. Some months afterward, the four men 
returned, and selected one of the most secluded and romantic 
spots in the woods of Saugus, for their abode. The place of 
their retreat was a deep, narrow valley, shut in on two sides by 
high hills and craggy, precipitous rocks, and shrouded on the 
others by thick pines, hemlocks, and cedars, between which 
there was only one small spot to which the rays of the sun, at 
noon, could penetrate. On climbing up the rude and almost 
perpendicular steps of the rock on the eastern side, the eye 
could command a full view of the bay on the south, and a pros- 
pect of a considerable portion of the surrounding country. The 
place of their retreat has ever since been called the Pirates' 
Glen, and they could not have selected a spot on the coast, for 
many miles, more fevorable for the purposes both of conceal- 
ment and observation. Even at this day, when the neighbor- 
liood has become thickly peopled, it is still a lonely and desolate 
place, and probably not one in a hundred of the inhabitants has 
ever descended into its silent and gloomy recess. There the 
pirates built a small hut, made a garden, and dug a well, the 
appearance of which is still visible. It has been supposed that 
they buried money ; but though people have dug there, and in 
several other places, none has ever been found. After residing 
there some time, their retreat became known, and one of the 
king's cruisers appeared on the coast. They were traced to 
the glen, and three of them were taken and carried to England, 
where it is probable they were executed. The other, whose 
name was Thomas Veal, escaped to a rock in the woods, about 
two miles to the north, in which was a spacious cavern, Avhere 
the pirates had previously deposited some of their plunder. 
There the fugitive fixed his residence, and practised the trade 
of a shoemaker, occasionally coming down to the village to 
obtain articles of sustenance. He continued his residence till 
the great earthquake this year, when the top of the rock was 
loosened, and crushed down into the mouth of the cavern, 
enclosing the unfortunate inmate, in its unyielding prison. It 
has ever since been called the Pirate's Dungeon. 

[By his romantic labor in thus gathering together detached 
and dim traditions, and giving them a connected form and local 
habitation, Mr. Lewis has succeeded in exciting a lively interest 
in many minds where a love of the marvellous could hardly have 
been supposed to exist. Without any desire to obliterate the 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G58. 245 

glowing impressions which a fond credulity loves to cherish, it 
seems a duty to inquire as to the foundation on which these 
stories rest. No recorded evidence has been discovered respect- 
ing the persons and transactions so circumstantially brought to 
view. Among the records of the various courts, which abound 
in allusions, at least, to matters of even the most trivial signifi- 
cance, nothing is found. And none of the gossiping old writers 
who delighted especially to dwell upon whatever partook of the 
wonderful and mysterious make any mention of these things. 
The alleged abode of the pirates was almost within a stone's 
throw of the Iron Works, which were in operation at the time; 
and yet we find no evidence that any about the Works even 
suspected the neighborhood of the outlaws. I once directly 
questioned Mr. Lewis as to whence he obtained the information ; 
but he declined answering. It has, however, been understood 
that he simply claimed the authority of tradition ; and is said to 
have remarked that his inquiries on the subject were induced 
by the same sort of evidence that induced his inquiries concern- 
ing the Iron Works. But however the researches may have 
commenced, they must have been pursued under very different 
circumstances. A glance at the colony records, would at once 
have assured any one of the existence of the Iron Works. And 
in recorded deeds they are again and again mentioned, as well 
as in the filed depositions of individuals connected with them. 
Thej^ were about as important in their da}^ as is the mint of 
the United States in this. And besides, at this very hour may 
be seen the heaps of scoria which were ejected from their sooty 
portals. Mr. Hiram Marble, who is now engaged in excavating 
Dungeon Rock, probably has much more faith in the supposed 
spiritual revelations that day by day are vouchsafed him, than 
he could have in any traditions. And if he should, under the 
spiritual guidance, discover hidden treasure, and traces of a 
piratical abode within the rock, then it will be deemed a triumph 
of spiritualism entirely eclipsing the few obscure, discordant 
traditions that float up from an age of mysteries. 

[It was in 1852, that Mr. Marble purchased from the City of 
Lynn the lot of woodland in which the Dungeon Rock is situ- 
ated. He came hither, a stranger, enticed by alleged clairvoy- 
ant revelations, and immediately commenced the laborious task 
of excavation. And he has continued to ply the ponderous 
j drills and rending blasts for these twelve years with a courage 
and faith almost sublime. His faith surely has not been without 
works nor his courage barren of results. And centuries hence, 
if his name and identity should be lost, the strange labor may 
be referred to some recluse cyclops who had strayed hither 
from mystic lands. The rock is of very hard porphyry, and the 
work has been so extremely uncomfortable and hazardous, that 
U* 



246 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1658. , 

very* few would have persisted in it. The course of the exca- 
vation is irregular, and such as a sensible mortal might avoid, as 
involving great waste of labor. But it is declared to be pursued 
under spiritual direction, the unseen superintendents — there- 
doubtable Veal among the rest — being constantly at hand to 
direct where a blast should be made. As it can readily be 
believed that no mortal would give such apparently erratic 
directions, spiritual interposition may as well be referred to for 
an explanation. 

[Mr. Marble is a man b}'- no means deficient in intelligence ; 
and he is an energetic and persevering enthusiast — just such a 
person as often accomplishes great things, either directly or 
indirectly. He is of medium size, has a bright, quick eye, and 
wears a flowing beard, of sandy hue, which does not always 
bear evidence of having immediately been under the restraining 
discipline of a comb. He is communicative, and in his conver- 
sation there runs a pleasant vein of jocularity. He is now 
verging upon old age, and his health has become somewhat 
impaired, probably through the severity of his labors in that 
damp, dark cavern. He is ready to converse on his plans, fears, 
and hopes ; and with great good nature, and some times with 
an apparently keen relish, alludes to the jeers and taunts of 
those who seem disposed to rank him with lunatics. It is 
refreshing to observe his faith and perseverance, and impossible 
not to conclude that he derives real satii^faction and enjoyment 
from his undertaking. He informs me that the spirit of Mr. 
Lewis has appeared, and through a writing medium endeavored 
to cheer him by words of approval and promise. That being 
the case, Mr. Lewis must surely have changed his sentiments 
since he left this world, for he was greatly incen.'^ed against 
those who laid their destroying hands upon the interesting 
objects of nature within our borders. And the reader, by 
referring to the first paragraph under date 1834, will see how 
indignantly he has expressed himself in regard to former 
attempts on the integrity of this very rock. The hope of find- 
ing hidden treasure has been the incentive to labors here, on 
a small scale, in former years ; and it is presumed that Mr. Mar- 
ble would not disclaim a kindred motive in his extraordinary 
application ; secondary, perhaps, to a due anxiety " to establish 
a great truth." 

[At the close of the year 1863 the passage excavated had 
reached a hundred and thirty-five feet, and was of the average 
height and width of seven feet. Mr. Marble — who, by the 
way is a native of Charlton, in Worcester county, and was born 
in 1803 — when he undertook the labor had about fifteen hun- 
dred dollars which he devoted to the enterprise ; and that fund 
being exhausted, he has for the last eight years received his 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1658. 247 

support and been enabled to continue his work, by the dona- 
tions of visitors. He is accustomed, whenever in doubt as to tlie 
course he should pursue, to apply for spiritual direction, and 
seldom or never conceives his application to be in vain. The 
following may be given as a fair specimen of his singular corres- 
pondence, the originals being at hand while we write. And 
that he has perfect confidence in them as genuine communica- 
tions from disembodied spirits is be-yond question. The manner 
in which he conducts his unique correspondence, may be illus- 
trated by explaining the way in which the* communication from 
Veal was obtained. He states that he wrote the request in this 
form : 

" I wish Veal ov Harris would tell what move to make next." 

He wrote it in a room, while entirely alone, and folded the paper 
in such a manner that the writing was covered by fifteen thick- 
nesses. The medium was then called, and merely feeling of the 
exterior of the folded paper, took a pencil an-? wrote what the 
spirit of Veal gave, through him, as the response. The one 
called Captain Harris is supposed to have been the leader of the 
piratical band. 

Response of Veal : " My dear charge : You solicit me or Captain Harris 
to advise you as to what to next do. Well, as Harris says he has always the 
heft of the load on his shoulders, I will try and respond myself, and let Harris 
rest. Ha ! ha ! Well, Marhle, we must joke a bit ; did we not, we sliould 
have the blues, as do you, some of those rainy days, when you see no living 
person at the rock save yoiu" own dear ones. Not a sound do you hear save 
the woodpecker and that little jiray bird, [a domesticated canary,] that sings 
all the day long, more especially wet days, tittry, tittry, tittry, all day long. 
But, IMarbie, as Long [a deceased friend of Mr. Marble, spoken of below,] 
says, don't be discouraged. We are doing as fast as we can. As to the course, 
you are in the right direction, at present. You have one more curve to make, 
before you take the course that leads to the cave. We have a reason for keep- 
ing you from entering the cave at once. IMoses was by the Lord kept forty 
years in his circuitous route, ere he had sight of that land which flowed with 
milk and iioney. God had his purpose in so doing, notwithstanding he might 
have led Moses into the promise in a very few days from the start. But no ; 
GofTwanted to develop a truth, and no faster than the minds of the jieople 
were prepared to receive it. Cheer up, IMrn-ble ; we are with you, and doing 
all we can. Your guide, Toj» Veal." 

[It seems proper to present another illustration of this singu- 
lar phase of human credulity; and we give one that purports to 
come from the spirit of the Mr. Long, who is alluded to in the 
response of Veal, and who died in 1851. He was a man of 
good character, and a steadfast friend of Mr. Marble. One of 
the most suspicious things, in our view, concerning him is, that 
going out of this world with an untarnished reputation, and \vith 
the seal of good orthodox churchmembership, he should so soon 
be found concerting with pirates to allure his old friend into 
labors so severe and unfruitful. The rhetorical flourish about 



248 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G58. 

millions of years, near the close, would be thought weakening, 
did it come from a mortal. The Edwin alluded to is Mr. 
Marble's son, who has faithfully borne a heavy share in the 
operations, and is, if possible, a more confirmed spiritualist 
than his father. 

Request of Mr. Marble: "Friend Long, I want you to advise me what 
to do." 

Response of Long: "My dear Marble, I have nothing to advise above 
what Captain Veal and Harris have already advised. We act in concert iu 
every thhig given you. Lam aware you feel not discouraged ; but you feel 
that after ten years' hard labor, you should have had more encouragement 
than you have seemingly had. But, dear one, we have done the most we 
could for you, and though we may be slow to advise you in reference to that 
which your liighest ambition seems to be — the establishment of a truth 
which l)ut few comparatively now credit, or cannot believe, from the gross- 
ness of their minds. But, Marble, you have done a work that will tell, when 
you shall be as I am. The names of Hiram and Edwin Marble will live vviien 
millions of years sliall from this time have passed, and when even kings and 
statesmen shall have been forgotten. The names of Hiram Marble and Dun- 
geon Rock shall be fresh on the memories of the inhabitants that then exist. 
What shall you do ? seems to be the question. Follow your own calculations 
or impressions, for they are riglit. 

Yours as ever, C. B. Long." 

[These curious communications are introduced for more than 
one purpose. They show something of the kind of encourage- 
ment Mr. Marble receives in his arduous labors. And they 
likewise show something of modern spiritualism, which now pre- 
vails to some extent throughout the civilized world. Lynn has 
had a good share of believers, some of whom were among the 
intelligent and refined. It will be observed that the orthogra- 
phy and mode of expression in the response of Veal, who, if he 
were ever in this world, was here in 1G58, are in the style of the 
present day. This might give rise, in a critical mind, to a strong 
suspicion. Indeed it is not easily explained excepting on the 
supposition that the medium, after all, acts himself, in part — 
and if so, in how great a part? — or the supposition that the 
spirits of the departed are enabled to continue on in the pro- 
gressive learning of this sphere ; or by taking a bolder sweep 
and at once awarding to the spirits the attribute of omniscience. 
There are difficulties in the way of reasoning in such matters, 
because they lie in that mystic province into which no human 
vision can penetrate — where the vagrant imagination so often 
revels undisturbed. And then again, the allusion to sacred 
things, in Veal's response, does not seem in exact accordance 
with the character of an abandoned outlaw. 

[Spiritualism, however, in the case of Mr. Marble, seems to 
have been productive of good. He states that he was formerly 
an unmitigated infidel, having no sort of belief in man's immor- 
tality. Even for some time after he commenced his labors at 



/ 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1658. 249 

Dungeon Ro(^k, ho clung to his frigid principles. And it was 
not till after repeated exhibitions of what he was forced to 
receive as spiritual manifestations, around him, that his old 
opinions began to loosen. To minds constituted essentially 
like that of Mr. Marble, and there are a great many, the doc- 
trines of spiritualism must commend themselves as fond reali- 
ties ; and they bringing consolation and trust. And they are 
doctrines which, under different names and forms have existed 
ever since the world began. It must be a strong incentive that 
could induce a man to quit the ordinary pursuits of life, and 
take up his abode in a lonely forest, as Mr. Marble has done, 
there devoting years to the severest toil, and undergoing so 
many and great privations. 

[In a late conversation, Mr. Marble expressed a desire that 
the facts regarding his enterprise might be stated in this history, 
to the end that the people of future generations might have 
some data by which to judge concerning the pretensions of the 
spiritualists of this period ; saying that if he should discover, 
somewhere in the interior of that hill of rock, a cave containing 
treasure, and evidences of ancient occupancy, all according to 
the lavish assurances he has been daily receiving from the spirit 
host, the truths of spiritualism will be considered most strongly 
fortified, if not established. There is wisdom and fairness in 
this. And on the other hand, failure will teach a useful lesson, 
a lesson that will remain before the eyes of men so long as the 
rock itself endures. In either event, the Dungeon Rock is 
destined to be forever famous ; to remain a monument of irra- 
tional credulity or triumphant faith. 

[A few words should be added regarding the Pirates' Glen. 
This remarkable locality, though exactly the opposite of the 
Dungeon Eock in some of its principal features, being a deep 
ravine instead of a commanding elevation, still possesses rare 
attractions, notwithstanding its fame has become so eclipsed. 
During the last score of years, a great portion of the wood in 
the vicinity has been swept off. The axe is the most unsenti- 
mental of instruments, and by its ravages much of .the former 
grandeur and beauty of the scene has been extinguished. Quite 
enough remains, however, to abundantly compensate the visitor 
who enjoys nature in her more untamed aspect. On a recent 
visit I took particular notice of the old well from which the 
pirates are supposed to have drawn their supplies. It was cer- 
tainly excavated by human hands and if the fact were once 
established, that pirates dwelt there, it might be fair to refer 
the work to them. But the reasoning which claims the exist- 
ence of the well as proof of the residence of the pirates, is no 
more conclusive than that which claims the fact that the Dun- 
geon Rock was riven by an earthquake and a portion projected 



250 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1659. 

forward, as proof that a cave was thereby closed up and a pirate 
entombed alive, with his treasure. The well may have been 
dug for the convenience of those employed in the woods. Be- 
ing in a swampy place, and hence requii-ing but little depth, a 
few hours Avere sufficient for the labor of excavation. The 
water ordinarily stands almost at the surface. The Glen would 
l^ave furnished a most apt place for the jolly iron workers and 
their sweethearts to retire to, on a summer holiday, to pursue 
their sports and drink their punch. And the convenience of a 
well Avould have been to them worth the small labor of the 
digging. It may be remarked in passing, that the evidence 
of the splitting of Dungeon Rock, by the earthquake of this 
.year, is not the most satisfactory. But it is not an agreeable 
task to reason against what a doting imagination has long held in 
keeping. And, moreover, it becomes one to be wary in making 
aggressive suggestions on these mysterious topics, lest Mr. 
Marble's future success should turn the laugh upon him.] 

1659. 

A road was laid out from Lynn to Marblehead, over the 
Swampscot beaches, on the fifth of July. In reference to the 
part between Ocean street and King's Beach, the committe say, 
" it has been a country highway thirty and odd years, to the 
knowledge of many of us." 

[Captain Marshall, of Lynn, was empowered by the General 
Court, 18 October, to join in marriage such persons in Lynn as 
might desire his services in that interesting connection, they 
" being published according to lawe."] 

At the Quarterly Court, on the 29th of November, " Thomas 
Marshall, of Lynn, is alowed by this court, to sell stronge water 
to trauillers, and also other meet provisions." 

The General Court had passed some very severe laws against 
the people called Friends or Quakers, forbidding any even to 
admit them into their houses, under a penalty of forty sliillings 
an hour. Mr. Zacheus Gould had offended against this order, 
for which he was arraigned by the Court. On the 25th of No- 
vember, '' the deputies having heard of what Zacheus Gould 
hath alleged in Court, in reference to his entertainment of Qua- 
kers, do think it meet that the rigor of the law in that case 
provided, be exercised upon him, but considering his ingenious 
confession, and profession of his ignorance of the law; and he 
also having long attended the Court, do judge that he shall only 
be admonished for his offence by the governor, and so be dis- 
missed the court, and all with reference to the consent of our 
honored magistrates hereto." This decision of the deputies 
was sent to the magistrates, and returned with this endorse- 
ment: " Th^ magistrates consent not thereto." So it is proba- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 16G0. 251 

ble that Mr. Gould was compelled to pay his fine. [The Court 
ordered that Mr. Gould pay a fine of three pounds. But the fine 
was remitted, 31 May, 1660, in consideration of the great loss, 
by fire, which he had recently sustained.] 

The Court this year enacted that the festival of Christmas 
should not be observed, under a penalty of five shillings. 

1660. 

Mr. Adam Hawkes commenced a suit, in June, against Oliver 
Purchis, agent for the Iron Company, for damage by overflow- 
ing his land. The following papers relating to this subject, 
were found in the-files of the Quarterly Court. 

The deposition of Joseph Jeuks, senior, saith, that havinj; conference with 
adam hawkes about the great dam at the Iron works at Lin, he complayned 
that he suffered great damage by the water flowing his ground. I answered 
him, I thought you had satisfaction for all from the old companie ; he said he 
had from the old company, and further saith not. 

This I, Charles Phillopes do testifie, that I, keepeing of the watter at the 
Ironc Workes, since Mr. Porchas came there, Mr. Porchas did att all times 
charge me to keepe the watter Lowe, that it might not damage Mr. Hawkes, 
which I did, and had much ill will of the workmen for the same. 

Others testified that the lands had been much overflowed. 
Francis Hutchinson said, that the water had been raised so 
high, that the bridge before Mr. Hawkes's house had several 
times been broken up, and ''the peces of tember raised'up and 
Made Sweme." John Knight and Thomas Wellman were ap- 
pointed to ascertain the damage. They stated that the corn 
had been " Much Spoilled," and the wells " sometimes filoted ;" 
that the English grass had been much damaged, and the to- 
bacco lands much injured, *' in laying them so Coulld." They 
judged the damage to be the " ualloation of ten pounds a 
yeere." 

[This year Charles II. took possession of the throne of Eng- 
land. Joseph Jenks, Jr., who worked with his father at the 
Iron Works, and who seems not. to have been very strongly 
attached to the monarch, was accused of treason, having, proba- 
bly during some free and easy discussion with the other work- 
men, or perhaps in a political dispute with the dignitaries 
assembled at the tavern, after the labors of the day, made 
divers careless remarks that did not favorably strike the loyal 
minds. He was brought before the Court on the first of the 
next April, and several depositions were made against him. 
Nicholas Pinion deposed that he '' did heere Joseph Jinks, jun. 
say that if he hade the king heir, he wold cutte of his head and 
make a football of it." Thomas Tower testified that when the 
kino-'s name was mentioned Mr. Jenks said, " I should rather 
that his head were as his father's, rather than he should come 



I 

252 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1661, 1662, 1663. 

to England to set up popery tliere." Several others testified to 
similar speeches. He was imprisoned while the case remain- 
ed undetermined, the punctilious authorities probably taking a 
strict view of the unloailable character of treason. While in 
durance, Mr. Jenks wrote a long letter to the Court ; and they 
finally decided that the words proved against him, " were all 
too weak to prove him guilty of treason."] 

1661. 

" At a Generall Towne Meetinge, the 30th of December, 1661, 
vpon the request of Daniell Salmon for some land, in regard he 
was a soldier att the Pequid warrs, and it was ordered by vote 
that Ensign John ffuller, Allen Breed, senior, and Richard John- 
son, should vew the land adjoyninge to his house lott, and to 
giue report of it vnto the next towne meetinge." 

[" The canker worm," says John Hull, writing this year, 
" hath for fower years devoured most of the apples in Boston." 
And he adds that the apple trees, in June, look as if it were No- 
vember. So those pests are not especially a modern infliction, 
in this vicinity, as some have supposed.] 

16 6 2'. 

Mr. William Longley prosecuted the town, for not laying out 
to him forty acres of land, according to the division of 1638. 
The case was defended by John Hathorne and Henry Collins. 
In March, the Court decided that he should have the forty acres 
of land or forty pounds in money. [For some curious facts 
connected with this matter, see page 175.] 

Qn 13 May, the boundary line between Lynn and Boston was 
marked. It ran ''from the middle of Bride's brooke, where the 
foot path now goeth." This line has since become the boundary 
between Saugus and Chelsea. 

[This year, the price of oak wood was one shilling and six- 
pence a cord. 

[It was customary, at this period, for Indians to bring ches- 
nuts hither, for sale. They usually sold them at a shilling a 
bushel.] 

For the first time since the organization of the general gov- 
ernment, in 1631, the town of Lynn sent no representative. 

16 6 3. 

On the evening of 26 January, there was an earthquake. [It 
took place about twilight, and proved quite severe; chimneys 
fell, and in many instances people were forced to seize upon 
supports to prevent falling. On the evening of the fifth of the 
next month another earthquake occurred ; in some places doors 
opened and shut, walls split, bells rang, and floors fell. And 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1663. 253 

between that time and July, some tliirty aliocks took place. In 
most cases the earth seemed to undulate, as if upon stupendous 
waves, rolling from the northwest. In some instances ponds 
were dried up, the courses of streams changed, trees torn up, 
and hills riven.] 

Mr. John Hathorne complainec^ to the church at Lj'nn, that 
Andrew Mansfield and William Longle}' had given flilse testi- 
mony in the recent laud case, for which they were censured. 
They appealed to the county court, accusing ^Ir. Hathorne of 
slander, of which he was found guilty, and sentenced to pay a 
fine of XIO, and make a public acknowledgment in the meeting- 
house at Lynn ; or else to pay £20 and costs. [See notice of 
Richard Longly, page 175.] On the fourth of April, the court 
directed the following letter to the church at Lynn. ^ 

Reverend aud loving Friends and Bretln-cn : We understand that John Hath- 
orne hath accused Andrew Mansfield and Williajn Longley in tlie church of 
Lynn, for giving a false testimony against himself and Henry Collins, at the court 
of Ipswich, in March this was 12 month, and for which the said Mansfield and 
Longley stand convicted in the chm-cli, and finding themselves aggrieved 
thereat, hath brought their comjilaint against the said Hathorne in several 
actions of slander, which hath had a full and impartial hearing, aud due 
examination, and by the verdict of the jury the said Hathorne is found guilty. 
Now because it is much to be desired that contrary judgments in one and the 
same case may b.e prevented, if possibly it may be attained, and one power 
strive not to clash against the other, we thought it expedient, before we give 
judgment in the case, to commend the same to the serious consideration and 
further examination of the church. We doubt not but that there hath been 
even more than a few both in the words and carriage of all tlie parties con- 
cerned, (though not the crime alleged), which if it may please God to put 
into their hearts to see and own so as may give the church opportunity and 
cause to change their mind and reverse their censures, so far as concerns the 
particular case in question, we hope it will be acceptable to God, satisfactory 
to ourselves and othei-s, and the beginning of their own peace and quiet, the 
disturbance whereof hitherto we are very sensible of, and shall at all times be 
ready to afford them our best relief, as we may have opportunity or cognizance 
thereof. Had you been pleased, before your final conclusion, to have given 
us the gi-ounds of your offence, we should kindly have resented such a request, 
and probably much of your trouble might have been prevented. We have 
deferred giving judgment in this case till tlie next session of this Court, to see 
what effect this our motion may have with them. Now the God of peace and 
wisdom give them imderstanding in all things, and guide them to such conclu- 
sions, in this and all other causes of concernment, as may be agreeable to his 
will, and conducing to your peace and welfare. So pi-ay your friends and 
brethren. By order of the County Court, at Ipswich. 

Robert Lord, Clerk. 

To this letter Mr. Whiting made the following reply, on the 
fourth of May : 

Honored and beloved in the God of love : We have received your letter, 
which you have been pleased to send to us, wherein we perceive how tender 
you are of our peace, and how wisely careful you declare yourselves to be in 
preventing any clash that might arise between the civil and ecclesiastical 
powers, for wi)ich we desire to return thanks from oui- hearts to God and 

V 



] 



254 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1663. 



unto you concerning the matter you signify to us ; what your pleasure is that 
we should attend unto, we in all humility of mind and desirous of peace, have 
been willing to prove the parties concerned, to see what errors they would 
see and own ; and for his part that complained to us, lie doth acknowledge 
his uncomely speeches and carriage both unto tlie marshal, he being the 
court's officer, and also to brethren in the church, Ir the agitation of the 
matter, and doth condemn himself ^r sin in ti; but for tne other parties that 
stand convicted, they either do not see or will not acknowledge any error 
concerning their testimony, which we judge tliey ought. Wherefore we hum- 
bly present you with these iew lines,»not doulniiig biU they will be ])leasing 
to God and acceptable to you, whatever hath been suggested to yourselves by 
others that bear not good will to the peace of our church ; we are sure of this, 
and our consciences bear us witness, that we have done nothing in opposition 
to you, or to cast any reflection upon your court proceedings, but have justi- 
fied you all along in what you have done, Secundum Allegata et probata, 
{according as they were alleged and proved] in all our church agitations,. 
which our adversaries can tell, if they would witness; but by reason of this,; 
that some of our brethren did swear contrary oaths, we thought it our duty; 
upon complaint made to us to search who they were that swore truly and' 
who did falsify their oath, and dfter much debate and dispute on Simday 
-days — [this must be an error; sundry days is no doubt intended. Besides 
the awkwardness of the phrase in the mouth of such a man as Mr. Whiting, 
it is a familiar fact that the Puritans did not use the name Sunday, but called 
the first day of the week Lord's-day, or Sabbath, and occasionally First-day.] — 
about this matter, we did judge those two men faulty, which in conscience 
we dare not go back from, they continuing as they do to this day. Could we 
discern any token of these men's repentance, for tliis that they are, especially 
one of them, censured in tlie church for, we should cheerfully take off the 
censures; but inasmuch as they justify themselves, and tell us if it were to do 
again they would do it, and lift up tlieir crests in high language and come to 
such animosities fiom the jury's verdict, we desire the honored court would 
not count us transgressors if we do not recede from what we have done ; 
especially cousidering what disturbers they have been to us ; especially one 
of them, for these several years. Now, therefore, honored and dear sirs, see- 
ing by what we have done we have gone in our o^vu way as a church in the 
search after sin, we hope the court will be tender of us and of him that com- 
plained to us on that account, and if we humbly crave that it be not grievous to 
you that we humbly tell you that in our judgment the discipline of these churches 
must tall; and if so, of what sad consequence it will be, we leave it to those 
that are wiser than ourselves to judge, for this case being new and never 
acted before in this country, doth not only reflect on our church but on all the 
churches in the country; for if delinquents that are censured in churches, 
shall be countenanced by authority, against the church in their acting in- a 
just way, we humbly put it to the consideration of tiie court, whether there 
will not be a wide door opened to Erastianisme,* which we hope aU of 
us do abhor from our hearts. Now the God of peace himself give the country, 
courts and church peace always by all means ; gi-ace be with you all in Christ 
Jesus. Amen. 

Dated the 4th, 3d, 1663, with the consent and vote of the church. 

Samuel Whiting. 

On the next day, the Court replied as follow-s : 

Reverend and beloved : We are very sori7 our endeavors have not produced 
that effect we hoped and desired, but seem to have been interpreted contrary 

* Thomas Erastuf?, in 1647 during the civil wars in England, contended that the church had no 
power to censure or decree. This opinion was termed Erastiauism. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1664. 255 

to our iutentions, (and, we conceive, our words,) as an encroachment and 
destructive to the right and power of the chinxhes. We have l)oen taught, 
and do verily believe, the civil and ecclesiastical power may very well consist, 
and that no cause is so purely ecclesiastical, but the civil power may in its 
way deal therein. We are tar from thinking the churches have no power but 
what is derived from the christian magistrates, or that the civil magisti-ate 
hath ecclesiastical powers, yet may, and ought, the matter so requiring, take 
cognizance and give judgment in solving a case, not in a church but civil way. 
We suf)pose we have kept much within these bounds in the case that hath 
been before ns, and that our opinion *^id practice herein hath been as clear 
from Erastianisme, as some men's assertions have been from the 0|)posite 
error, and the declared judgments of our congregational divines. In that 
point, we own and desire so to regulate our proceedings accordingly. The 
jGod of order guide all our mauisii-ations to his glory, and the peace and edifi- 
• cation of his people. 

By order and unanimous consent of tlie County Court, sitting at Ipswich, 
May 5th, 1G63, p. me. Robert Lord, Clerk. 

[For a year or two, difficulties seem to have existed regard- 
ing the organization and disposition of the "Lynn troopers." 
The Court, iu June, judged it meet to declare, '' tliat Capt. 
Hutchinsons comission doeth bind him to comand the troopers 
residing in Lynne, that are listed w**" him, as formerly." And 
in October the Court say, in answer to a petition of the Lynn 
troopers, that " henceforth the troopers inhabitting in Lynne, 
shall apperteine unto and joyne w"" Salem troope, . . . except- 
ing only such as shall rather choose to continue w*"" the Three 
County Troope, and shall certify theire desire soe to doe, under 
theire hands, at the next meeting of Salem troope." 

[There was a great eclipse of the sun, 22 August, the light 
becoming " almost like eventyde," as a writer of the time ob- 
serves,] 

1664. 

On the 28th of June, Theophilus Bayley was licensed to keep 
a public house. (Q. C. Files.) 

* This year the wlieat is first mentioned to have been blasted. 
(Hubbard.) Little has been raised on the sea coast of New 
England since. 

A public fast was appointed on account of dissensions and 
troubles. 

In Xovembser, a comet appeared, and continued visible till 
February. [Li Bradstreet's journal this comet is noticed in a 
manner that aptly /illustrates the popular opinion regarding the 
influence of such celestial visitants. " Novem. A great blazing 
star appeared in the S : west w'** continued some monthes. 
The effects appeared much in England, in a great and dreadful 
plague that followed the next sumer; in a dreadfuU warr by 
sea w*'' the dutch ; and the burning of London the 2^ year 
following." By Josselyn this is called " the great and dreadful 
comet."] 



256 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1665, 1666, 1667. 



1665. 

On the 27th of June, Thomas Laighton, Oliver Purchis, and 
John Fuller, we're appointed commissioners to try small causes. 

[A fast was held, in June, on account of the caterpillars and 
palmer worms. John Hull makes this note: ''This summer 
multitudes of flying caterpillars arose out of the ground, and 
from roots of corn, making such a noyse in the aire, that travel- 
lers must speak lowd to hear one another; j^et they only seazed 
upon the trees of the wilderness." Could these " flying cater- 
pillars " have been locusts?] 

On the 29th of November, Mr. Joseph Jenks was admonished 
by the Salem court, for not attending public worship. 

[The Court, in the absence of newspapers through which to 
promulgate their orders, were obliged, on many occasions, to 
resort to the primitive way of proclaiming by herald. They 
order, this j^ear, that a declaration be '' published by M'' Oliuer 
Purchis on horse backe, by sound of trumpet, and that Thomas 
Bligh, the trumpeter, and Marshall Richard Wajte accompany 
him, and y* in the close ho sa}^, w**" an audible vojce, ' God saue 
the king.' " It can hardly be imagined that Mr. Purchis ut- 
tered the closing ejaculation with any great heartiness, as he 
is understood to have been a decided anti-royalist.] 

1666. 

Mr. Andrew Mansfield was chosen town recorder. 

On the 7th of December, the General Court assembled for 
religious consultation and prayer, in which Mr. Whiting and Mr. 
Cobbet sustained a part. 

[This year was marked by several conspicuous events. The 
small-pox prevailed extensively, and a great many died of it. 
An unusual destruction of life by lightning, also took place ; an 
almanac memorandum says, •' Divers were this year slain by 
lightning." Grasshoppers and caterpillars did great mischief 
during the growing season. 

[Nathaniel Bishop and Hope Allen, curriers, petitioned the 
Court to forbid tanners and shoemakers exercising the trade 
of curriers. But the Court judged '' it not megte to grant y® 
peticoners request."] 

1667. "^ 

[The spring was so forward that apple trees began to blossom 
by the 18th of April.] 

At the Quarterly Court, on the 26th of June, Nathaniel Kert- 
land, John Witt, and Ephraim Hall, were presented, " for pro- 
phaining the Lord's Day, By Going to William Craft's house, in 
time of publike exercise, (they both bebg at meeting,) and 



• ANNALS OP LYNN — 16G8, 16G9. 257 

Drinkeing of Lis sider, and Rosteing his Aplos, without eyther 
the consent or knowledge of him or his wife." 

Mr. Joseph Jenks presented a petition to th'e General Court 
for aid to commence a wire manufactory, but did not receive 
sufficient encouragement. 

[Bradstreet notes that "toward the end of February, there 
was a mighty long beam appeared in the S : West, and was seen 
four or five nights ; it appeared like the tail of a comet, but no 
starre was to bee seen, nor had it any, vnlesse it was depressed 
vnder y^ Horizon." This, taken in connection with the de^scrip- 
tion given in Morton's Memorial has led some to suppose that 
an unsually brilliant display of the zodiacal light then took place. 
But I do not see how it could have been that. Most likely it 
was a comet with the head below the horizon, or without a 
head of any density. But whatever it was, it created consider- 
able alarm and numerous disasters were ascribed to its agency. 
The next year. Rev. Mr. Shepard of Rowley, Rev. Mr. Flint of 
Braintree, and Rev. Mr. Mitchell, of Cambridge, died. And the 
apprehensive Bradstreet observes, '^Possibly the death of these 
precious Servants of Christ might not bee the least thing sig- 
nefyed by that Blaze or Beam." 

[The winter of this year " was exceedingly mild above N. 
English winters," says Bradstreet. There was not much snow 
and but little depth of frost.] 

1668. 

The ministers of the several towns assembled in Boston, on 
the 15th of April, to hold a public disputation with the Baptists. 
Mr. Whiting and ^[r. Cobbet were among the principal. 

On the 13th of June, Robert Page, of Boston, was presented 
for " setinge saille from Nahant, in his boate, being Loaden with 
wood, thereby Profaining the Lord's daye." 

Land on the north side the Common was this year sold for 
X4 an acre; and good salt marsh, Xl.lO. 

1669. 

On the 29th of April, the boundary line between Lynn and 
Salem was defined. It ran from tlie west end of Brown's pond, 
in Danvers, ''to a noated Spring," now called Mineral Spring; 
thence to " Chip Bridge," on the little brook which runs out 
near the liouse of John Phillips, to the sea shore. 

[The Dolphin, a vessel belonging to Charlestown, lost a top- 
sail and some other rigging in Ipswich Bay, and these were 
taken up at Lynn, by Mr. King — Daniel King, it is probable, 
who lived at Swampscot — and he, for some reason that does 
not appear, refused to give them up, notwithstanding recom- 
pense had " been tendered for all his paynes and charge in 
V* 17 



258 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1670. 

securing the same. Uppon application for redress, by tbe mas- 
ter, Major Hathorne was empowered by the Court to heare and 
determine the case according to lawe, to allow what recompense 
he shall judge meet, and cause said sayle and rigging to be 
delivered to the sajd master." 

[A difference existing between the county treasurer and the 
constable of Lynn, '' about the prosecution of hues en cry," and 
on some other accounts, the Court, 19 May, gave to a committee 
powe/ to " inspect the sajd differences, and together with the 
treasurer, to put issue thereto."] 

1670. 

The Court ordered, that the lands of deceased persons might 
be sold for the payment of debts. Before this, if a person died 
in debt, his land was secure. The method of conveyance was 
by "turfe and twig;" that is, the seller gave a turf from the 
ground and a twig from a tree, into the hands of the buyer, as 
a token of relinquishment. [This is a mistake. The earlier 
practice of the courts here, even went to the extent of treating 
real estate the same as chattels ; in administration, allowing sales 
to be made regardless of heirship. The old English mode of 
conveying, by turf and twig, was never adopted here. It was 
about this time, however, that the distinguishing features of 
real estate law began to be recogized ; and petitions for leave 
to sell were occasionally presented. 

[Capt Marshall, who had been empowered to perform the 
marriage ceremony, at Lynn, as stated under date 1659, was 
discharged by the Court, 31 May, " from officyating in that 
imployment." He seems to have been " abused by the misin- 
formation of some," and by " his oune ouermuch credulit}^' 
and to have exceeded his commission, by marrying parties from 
other places, and such as had not been legally published. Some 
of his grievous offences are stated on the colony records. It 
is presumed that he inconsiderately performed the ceremony in 
the following case. "Hope Allin and John Pease, . . appear- 
ed in Court, and y^ sajd John Pease acknouledged, that not- 
withstanding the counsell of the major general, who had declined 
y« marrying of M'^ Deacon to Hope Allins daughter, he did ac- 
company them to Lynn, to Capt. Marshall, &c. and Hope Allin 
declared he did give his consent y' y^ sajd M"" Deacon should 
have his daughter, and told Capt. Marshall y' he hoped they 
might be legally published before y* time, <fec. ; the Court judged 
it meet to censure the sajd Hope Allin to pay ten pounds as a 
fine to the country for his irregular proceedure and John Pease 
forty shillings." And so it appears that Mr. Allen had to pay 
rather dearly for manifesting a little anxiety to get his daughter 
off his hands.] - . 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G71. 259 



16 71. 

On the 18th of January. |jhere was a great snow storm, in 
which there was much thunder and h'ghtning. 

The following memorandum is copied from the leaf of a Bible. 
May 22. " A very awful thunder, and a very great storm of wind 
and hail, especially at Dorchester town, so that it broke many 
glass windows at the meeting-house." 

Mr. Samuel Bennet sued Mr. John Gilford, the former agent 
of the Iron Works, and attached property to the amount of 
£400, for labor performed for the company. On the 27th of 
June, the following testimony Xvas given: "John Paule aged 
about forty-five years, sworne, saith, that living with Mr. Sam- 
uel Bennett, upon or about the time that the Iron Works were 
seased by Capt. Savage, in the year 53 as I take it, for I lived 
ther several years, and ray constant imployment was to repaire 
carts, coale carts, mine carts, and other working materials for 
his teemes, for he keept 4 or 5 teemes, and sometimes 6 teemes, 
and he had the most teemes the last yeare of the Iron Works, 
when they were seased, and my master Bennet did yearly j^earne 
a vast sum from the said Iron Works, for he commonly yearned 
forty or fifty shillings a daye for the former time, and the year 
53, as aforesaid, for he had five or six teemes goeing generally 
every faire day." (Salem Q. C. files.) 

The Iron Works for several years were carried on with vigor, 
and furnished most of the iron used in the colony. But the 
want of ready money on the part of the purchasers, and the 
great freedom with which the company construed the liberal 
privileges of the Court, caused their failure. The owners of the 
lands which had been injured, commenced several suits against 
them, and at last hired a person to cut away the flood gates and 
destroy the works. This was done in the night, when the pond 
was full. The dam was high, and just below it, on the left, 
stood the house of Mac Galium More Downing. The water 
rushed out and flowed into the house, without disturbing the 
inhabitants, who were asleep in a chamber. In the morning, 
Mrs. Downing found a fine live fish flouncing in her oven. The 
works were much injured, and the depredator fled to Penobscot. 

The suits against the Iron Works were protracted for more 
than twenty years. Mr. Hubbard says that " instead of drawing 
out bars of iron for the country's use, there was hammered out 
nothing but contention and law suits." The works were con- 
tinued, though on a smaller scale, for more than one hundred 
years from their establishment. But they have long been dis- 
continued, and nothing now is to be seen of them, except the 
heaps of scoria, called the " Cinder Banks." 

[Jonathan Leonard, in a letter published in the N. E. Histori- 



260 " ANNALS OF LYNN — 1672. 

cal and Genealogical Register, Oct. 1857, mentions a tradition ' 
handed down from his ancestors, one of whom was employed at 
the Lynn works, in their very infancy, to the effect that after 
these works had done considerable business, the people became 
alarmed through the apprehension that the quantity of charcoal 
used, would occasion a scarcity of wood ; and, urged on by their 
fears, threw so many obstacles in the way of the company that 
the business was broken up. It is quite certain that they were 
constantly beset by difficulties, and the singular apprehension 
alluded to may have laid the foundation for some at least. 

[As evidence of the desire to diffuse education among the 
people, it may be remarked that at this time the law required 
every town, consisting of as many as one hundred families, to 
establish a grammar school, with a master able to fit the youth 
for college. And every town neglecting the requisition was 
liable to a penalty of ten pounds a year. 

[That a disposition towards independence was early entertain- 
ed by the people of New England, is evidenced by a note in 
Evelyn's journal, und'er date of this year. He says, '' There was 
a fear of their breaking from all dependence on this nation." 
Evelyn was a member of the board of trade and plantations.] 

1672. 

Mr. Daniel Salmon attached the property of the town, to the 
value of forty pounds, for not laying out the land granted to 
him in 1661. On the 27th of June, the Quarterly Court required 
the town to give him about six acres, near his house. 

[On the first of April there was a violent snow storm. Drifts 
were left six feet in height. And the rains that followed did 
much damage. It rained fourteen days during the month. 

[The whole General Court resolved to keep the twenty-sec- 
ond of May as a day of fasting and humiliation, and to meet at 
the court house, where Rev. Messrs. Whiting, Cobbet, John 
Eliot, Increase Mather, and others, were appointed " to carry 
on the worke of that day, by prayer and preaching." Tlie 
solemnities were held on account of the disturbances and dis- 
tresses in Europe, and to supplicate for freedom from like 
afflictions here. 

[Joseph Jenks, senior, made proposals to coin the money. 
But the Court judged it "meet not to grant his request." 

[The first dancing school in the colony was commenced this 
year. It was soon, however, suppressed by the strong arm of 
the law. And up to this time there were no professed musi- 
cians in the colony, 

[The sun was eclipsed, 12 August, " total or very near." 

[There was a great easterly storm, 10 November. It brought 
in "so great a tyde as hath not bene this 36 years."] 



/ 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1673, 1G74. 261 



1673. 

On the 18th of June, a new road was laid out from Lynn to 
Marblehead, on the north of the former road. It is now called 
Essex street. 

The second inhabitant of Nahant, of whom we find any men- 
tion, was Robert Coats. He probably lived there as a fisherman 
and shepherd, and left before he married Mary Hodgkin, which 
was 29 December, 1682. He had six sons and three daughters. 
After he left, there appears no inhabitant until 1690. 

I 1674. 

[John Tarbox, one of the first farmers in Lynn, died 26 May. 
He had seven acres of upland on Water Hill, an orchard, three 
cows and nine sheep, at the time of his decease. His will says, 
" I bequeath my house and housing, with orchard and all my 
land and meddow, with a greene Rugg, and a great Iron ketteli, 
and a round Joynd table, to my son John Tarbox." He was a 
small proprietor in the Iron Works. This was the same John 
Tarbox, for the winning of the affections of whose daughter, 
Matthew Stanley was fined £5, in 1649. See page 225.] 

Some of the inhabitants of Salem attempted to form a new 
church, and engaged Mr. Charles Nicholet for their minister ; 
but their design being opposed, they came to Lynn to complete 
it. Mr. Rogers, minister of Ipswich, wrote a fetter to Mr, Phil- 
lips, minister of Rowley, requesting him to assist in preventing 
the accomplishment. This letter was handed to Major Dennison, 
who subjoined the following approbation : " Sir, Though I know 
nothing of what is above written, I cannot but approve the same 
in all respects." On Sunday, the* 11th of December, the dele- 
gates from the churches of Boston, Woburn, Maiden, and Lynn, 
with the governor, John Leverett, assembled at Lynn, and 
formed a council. They chose the Rev, John Oxenbridge, of 
Boston, moderator, and agreed that the new church should be 
formed. Afterward, the delegates of the churches of Salem, 
Ipswich, and Rowley, arrived, when the vote of the council 
was reconsidered, and decided in the negative. In the curious 
church records of Rowley, it is said that " This work was begun 
without a sermon, which is not usuall. There was also a break- 
ing out into laughter, by a great part of the congregation, at a 
I speech of Mr, Batters, that he did not approve of what Major 
Hathorue had spoken. Such carriage was never known on a 
first day, that I know of." After the frustration of this design, 
Mr. Nicholet went to England. [Nicholas Root was active in 
this design. 

[This year closed with gloomy apprehensions touching the 
im]5ending storm of savage retribution.] 



/ 



262 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1675. 



1675. 

Tbis year we find mention made, in the records of the Society 
of Friends, of the sufferings of that people, in consequence of 
their refusal to pay parish taxes. In reference to George Oaks, 
who appears to be one of the first who embraced the doctrines 
of George Fox, in Lynn, is the following record : *' Taken aAvay 
for the priest, Samuel Whiting, one cow, valued at X3." Oth- 
ers afterward suffered for refusing to perform military duty, or 
to pay church rates, by having their cattle, corn, hay, and do- 
mestic furniture taken away. 

On the 29th of August, there was " a very great wind and 
rain, that blew down and twisted many trees." (Bible leaf) 

The year 1G75 is memorable for the commencement of the 
great war of Pometacom, called king Philip, sachem of the Wam- 
panoag Indians, in Plymouth county and Rhode Island, just one 
hundred years before the war of the independence of the United 
States. Pometacom was a son of Massasoit, but was more war- 
like than his father. Perhaps he had more cause to be so. As 
we have received the history of this war only from the pens 
of white men, it is probable that some incidents that might serve 
to illustrate its origin, have been passed unnoticed. It com- 
menced in June, and some of the eastern tribes united with the 
Wampanoags. One of the causes of their offence, was an out- 
rage offered by some sailors to the wife and child of Squando, 
sagamore of Saco. Meeting them in a canoe, and having heard 
that young Indians could swim naturally, they overturned the 
frail bark. The insulted mother dived and brought up her 
child, but it died soon after. 

[Considerable alarm was felt, even in this quarter, so powerful 
and determined did the Indians appear, in this, their last great 
strAiggle.] The military company in Lynn, at this time, was 
commanded by Capt. Thomas Marshall, Lieut. Oliver Purchis, 
and Ensign John Fuller. The troops from Massachusetts, which 
went against the Indians, were commanded by Major Samuel 
Appleton. [The following answer of the Court, despatched in 
October, to a letter of the Major General, will give a glimpse 
of the existing state of feeling. " Sr : Wee received your letter 
dated at Lynn, 23th instant, and haue perused the particculs 
inclosed, w'^'' still present us w*'' sad tjdings (the Lord haue 
mercy on us) toucheing the performance of yo"" promise to Ma- 
jor Pike in your designe to rajse what force you can to resist 
the enemys head quarters at Ausebee. Wee approove of it ; 
only wee presume your intelligence that the enemy is there is 
vpon good grounde. Wee cannot give yow particular orders, 
^ but leaue the management of this affayre to yo' prudenc and 

assistance of Almighty God, not doubting yo"^ care in leaving 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G75. 263 



I \ 



sufficient strength to secure the frontjer tounes of Norfolke and 
Essex, least the enemy should visit them when the fforoes are 
abooard. W'out doubt, if their squawes and pappooses, &c. be 
at Assabee, and God be pleased to deliver them into our hands, 
it would be much for our interest. As for your personall march- 
ing, it will be acceptable, if God inable to psecute it." 

[Solomon Alley and Benjamin Farnell, of Lynn, were among 
the slain at Bloody Brook, having been in Lathrop's command.] 

Fifteen men were impressed at Lynn, by order of the Court, 
on the 13th of November, in addition to those who had been 
previously detached. Their names were Thomas Baker, Robert 
Driver, Job Farrington, Samuel Graves, Isaac Hart, Nicholas 
Hitchens, Daniel Hitchens, John Lindsey, Jonathan Locke, 
Charles Phillips, Samuel Rhodes, Henry Stacey, Samuel Tarbox, 
Andrew Townsend, and Isaac Wollman. 

On the 19th of December, says the Bible leaf, there was "a 
dreadful fight with the Indians." This was the great swamp 
fight, at South Kingston, R. I., when eighty white men, and 
more than three hundred Indians, were killed, Mr. Ephraim 
Newhall, of Lynn, was one of the slain. [The following affida- 
vit was signed by Thomas Baker, and sworn to, at Lynn, 8 June, 
1730, before Theophilus Burrill, justice of the peace, and is 
recorded in Middlesex Registry. '" The deposition of Thomas 
Baker, of Lyn, in the county of Essex, aged about 77 years, 
Testifieth and saith, That I, being well acquainted with one 
Andrew Townsend of Lyn aforesaid, for more than 55 years 
since, and do certainly know and very well Remember that the 
s"^ Andrew Townsend was a soldier in the Expedition to the 
Narragansett under y'= Command of Capt. Gardner, and that he 
was in y« s'^ Narragansett fite and in s'^ fite Rec'd a wound, in or 
about the year 1675."] 

Wenepoykin, the sagamore of Lynn, who had never been in 
deep friendship with the whites, went and united with Pometa- 
com. He probably had some causes of offence which hdve been 
left unrecorded. Indeed, the thousand little insults, which the 
men of his rape have ever been in the habit of receiving from 
white men, and which must have been felt by his proud mind, 
might have been sufficient cause for his conduct. As a poetess 
has well said : 

Small slights, contempt, neglect, unmixed with hate, 
Make up in number what they want in weight. 

Two of the descendants of Nanapashemet, whose names were 
Quanapaug and Quanapohit, living on Deer Island, had become 
Christians by the names of James and Thomas. These united 
with the whites, and became spies for them, for which they 
were to have £5 each ; for which cause the Wampanoag sachem 



264 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1676. 

offered a reward for their death, but they survived the war. 
Several anecdotes of their cunning are preserved by Mr. Drake. 
At one time, when they were taking him to Pometacom Quana- 
paug escaped by his skill Quanapohit, also, came accidentally 
upon six of his armed enemies, whom he put to flight, and plun- 
dered their wigwam, by turning round and beckoning, as if ho 
were calling his company. 

1676.. 

The war with the Indians was prosecuted by both parties 
with the most determined vigor and cruelty. Many towns were 
burnt and many of the inhabitants put to death. Great num- 
bers of the Indians also were killed, and those who were taken 
prisoners were most cruelly sold for slaves to the "West Indies, 
against the earnest entreaties of some of the principal officers. 
At last, Philip was pursued to a swamp, near his residence, at 
Mount Hope, and killed, on the morning of Saturday, the 12th 
of August. After his death Annawon, Tispaquin, and others 
of his chiefs and warriors, submitted themselves, on the promise 
that their lives would be spared ; but they were unmercifully 
put to death. From the expressions of some of them, it is 
probable that they did not wish to survive the destruction of 
their nation. 

Thus fell Philip, the last great king of the Wampanoags — 
the last formidable enemy of the English. Like Sassacus, he 
foresaw the destruction of his nation ; but he was at first friend- 
ly to the white people, and wept when he heard that some of 
them had been killed. The pen of the historian will do justice 
to his patriotism, and the harp of the poet will eulogize him in 
strains of immortality. 

Tradition, legend, tune, and song, 
Shall many an age that wail prolong ; 
Still from the sire the son shall hear 
Of that stern strife and carnage drear. 

Wenepoykin, who had joined with the Wampanoags, was 
taken prisoner, and sold as a slave to Barbadoes. -He returned 
in 1684, at the end of eight years, and died at the house of his 
relative, James Muminquash, at the age of 68 years. The tes- 
timony of Tokowampate and Waban, given 7 October, 1686, and 
preserved in Essex Registry of Deeds, declares, that " Sagamore 
George, when he came from Barbadoes, lived some time, and 
died at the house of James Rumneymarsh." The old chief, who 
had ruled in freedom over more than half the state of Massachu- 
setts, returned from his slavery, sad and broken-hearted, to die 
in a lone wigwam, in the forest of Natick, in the presence of his 
sister Yawata. 

A law had been passed, prohibiting the friendly Indians from 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G77. 265 

going more than one mile from their own wigwams. On the 
25th of October, the Court agreed that they might go out to 
gather '^ chesnuts and other nuts in the wilderness," if two 
white men went with each company, whose charges were to be 
paid by the Indians. 

The injuries which the Indians received in the early history 
of our country, cannot now be repaired ; but the opportunity is 
aflForded for our national government to manifest its high sense 
of magnanimity and justice, and to evince to the world that re- 
publics are not unmindful of honor and right, by redressing any 
wrongs which the existing red men have received, and by pro- 
viding for their welfare, in a manner becoming a great and pow- 
erful nation, which has received its extensive domains from a 
people who are now wandering as fugitives in the land of their 
fathers. Such conduct, it may reasonably be expected, will 
receive the approbation of heaven ; and it cannot be supposed, 
that He who watches the fall of the sparrow, will regard its 
neglect with indifference. 

[John Flint, of Salem, shot a hostile Indian at the end of 
Spring pond, in Lynn, as appears by the record of an examina- 
tion before William Hathorne, 9 October. The next year, for 
causing the death of a white man, he was convicted of man- 
slaughter. He was a soldier in Philip's war,] 

The leaf of the Bible says, there was •' a' great sickness this 
year." 

1677. 

[Lynn gave ^4.13, for the relief of captives from Hatfield ; 
Salem, X4.7. 

[In the Salem court files is the following: "An inventory of 
y® estate of Teague alias Thaddeas Braun, who was impressed 
a soldier of Lynn for the Countrevs service and was sent from 
Lynn y^ 22nd June, 1677, and was slayne in the fight at Black- 
point, as we are informed, on y® 29''' of June, 1677."] 

The following letter was addressed by Mr. Whiting to Increase 
Mather, 1 October, 1677. 

"Reverend and Dear Cousin: I acknowledge myself much engaged, as to 
God for all his mercies, so to yourself for your indefatigable labors, both in 
our church here, and in your writings, which of your love you have sent to 
me from time to time; and Especially for your late book which you sent to 
me, wlierein you liavc outdone any that I have seen upon that subject. Go 
on, dear cousin, and the Lord prosper your endeavors for the glory of his 
gi-eat name, and the good of many souls. And let me beg one request of you, 
that you would set pen to paper in writing an history of New England, since 
the coming of our chief men hither ; which you may do, by conferring with 
Mr, Iligginson, and some of the first planters in Salem, and in other places ; 
which I hope you may easily accomplish, having, byj'our diligence and search 
found out so much history concerning the Pequot war. And tlie rather let 
me entreat this favor of you, because it hatli not been hitherto done by any ia 

w 



266 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1678. 

a polite and scholar like way ; which, if it were so done, would glad the hearts 
of the Lord's people, and tin-n to your great account in the last and great day 
of the Lord Jesus. Tlius commending my love to you and your loving con- 
sort, with thanks to you for your kindness to me and my son, when we were 
last with you at your house, beseeching the Lord to bless you and all yours : 
not knowing how shortly I must put off this earthly tabernacle, I rest, 

Samuel Whitino. 

[The General Court order, 10 October, that " 10 barrels of 
cranberries, 2 hhds. of special good samp, and 3000 cod fish," 
be sent as a present to the king.] 

At this time there was but one post office in Massachusetts, 
which was at Boston. On the 3d of December, the Court of 
Assistants appointed John Hayward postmaster for the whole 
.colony. 

On Thanksgiving day, the 4th of December, happened one 
of the greatest storms ever known in New England. It blew 
down many houses and many trees. 

1678. 

This year, Samuel Appleton, Jr., took possession of the Iron 
Works, by a grant in the will of William Pajnie, of Boston. On 
the 9th of June, Thomas Savage sued an old mortgage which 
he held on the propert}', and Samuel Waite testifies, " There is 
land, rated at Three Thousand acres of Iron Mill land." In 
1679, Mr. Appleton had possession of three fourths of the Iron 
Works, valued at .£1500. The law suits respecting the Iron 
Works were protracted to a tedious length, and papers enough 
are preserved in the Massachusetts archives, respecting them, 
to form a volume. 

The Selectmen, or, as they were called, " the Seven Pruden- 
tial men," this year, were Thomas Laighton, Richard Walker, 
Andrew Mansfield, William Bassett, Nathaniel Kertland, John 
Burrill, and Ralph King. 

The price of corn was two shillings a bushel. 

[Thomas Purchis, senior, died 11 May, aged a hundred and 
one years, as stated by his widow and son in a petition to the 
Salem court. He had not long resided in Lynn, having been 
among the Maine settlers. It seems hardly possible that he can 
have been the same individual mentioned by Mr. Lewis under 
date 1640, though he may have been here for a brief period, 
about that time. Somewhere between 1625 and 1629 he located 
in Maine, and engaged in the fur trade. He had lands on the 
Androscoggin, and sold to Massachusetts, 22 July, 1639, a por- 
tion of the territory on which Brunswick now stands, of which 
place he was the first settler. In 1635, he was one of Gorges's 
Council ; subsequently he held the office of sole Assistant to the 
Colony Commissioners ; and was a Justice under Archdale, in 
1664. In 1675, his house was attacked by hostile Indians, and 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1679. 267 

• pillaged. He tben removed to Lynn. I have seen it suggested 
that he may have been a brother of Oliver Purchis who was so 
long an active and conspicuous man here. But I think it could 
not have been so. About seven months after his decease, his 
widow married John Blaney. 

[Thomas Laighton was empowered by the Court to join such 
persons in marriage as had been duly published, provided one 
at least resided in Lynn.] 

The first meeting-house of the Society of Friends, says an 
old record of one of their members, *' was raised on Wolf Hill." 
[This site was on Broad street, nearly opposite Nahant. The 
first Friends' meeting, in this vicinit}', is supposed to have been 
held, this year, in a house that stood -^u Boston street, a little 
west of Brown's pond.] 

The people of Reading petitioned the General Court, on the 
3d of OctolDer, that the alewives might be permitted to come 
up to Reading pond, as before ; that they might find no obstruc- 
tion at the Iron Works, but " come up freely into our ponds, 
where they have their natural breeding place ; " which was 
granted. 

Thomas Dexter, Jr., and Captain James Oliver, administrators 
of the estate of Thomas Dexter, prosecuted the town of Lynn, 
on the 26th of November, at Boston, for the recovery of Na- 
hant. The jury decided in favor of the town. This was a 
review of the case decided 1 September, 1657, against Mr. 
Dexter. 

1679. 

In the number of the early ministers of New England, there 
were few who deserved a higher celebrity, for the purity pf 
their character, and the fervor of their piety, than the Rev. 
Samuel Whiting. His name has been frequently oveijlooked 
by biographers, and little known and estimated even in his own 
parish. He has no stone erected to his memory, and the very 
place where he was buried is known only to a few. 

Dust long outlasts the storied stone, 
But thou — thy very dust is gone. 

[Since Mr. Lewis wrote the above, William Whiting, Esq., 
the eminent lawyer, who is a descendant, has erected a fitting 
monument to his memory. It is a simple granite shaft, inscribed 
with his name, and the dates of his birth and decease. It is on 
the westerly side of the path leading from the front gate-way, 
in the Old Burying Ground, near the western end of Lynn 
Common.] 

This is another instance of the truth of the observation, that 
men are indebted to the poet and the historian for their remem- 



268 ANNALS OF LYNN. — 1679. 

brance to after ages. An honorable memorial of the deserving 
dead is one of the rewards of goodness, and the very desire of 
remembrance is itself a virtue. We naturally love the idea that 
we are remembered by others, and that our names will be 
known beyond the circle of those with whom we shared the 
endearments of friendship. It is sweet to think that we have 
not altogether lived in vain ; to persuade ourselves that we have 
conferred some slight benefit on the world, and that posterity 
will repay the pleasing debt by mentioning our names with ex- 
pressions of regard. It is not vanity, it is not ambition; it is a 
pure love of mankind, an exalting sense of right, that twines 
itself around every virtuous and noble mind, raising it above 
the enjoyment of worldliness, and making us wish to prolong 
our existence in the memory of the good. 

Rev. Samuel Whiting was born at Boston, in Lincolnshire, 
England, on the 20th of November, 1597. His father, Mr. John 
Whiting was mayor of the city, in 1600; and his brother John 
obtained the same office, in 1625. Having completed his studies 
in the school of his birthplace, young Samuel entered the uni- 
versity at Cambridge, where he had for his classmate, his cousin, 
Anthony Tuckney, afterward Master of St. John's College, with 
whom he commenced a friendship, which was not quenched by 
the waters of the Atlantic. He received impressions of piety 
at an early age, and loved to indulge his meditations in the 
retired walks of Emanuel College. He entered college in 1613, 
took his first degree in 1616, and his second in 1620. Having 
received orders in the Church of England, he became chaplain 
in a family consisting of five ladies and two knights. Sir Na- 
thaniel Bacon and Sir Roger Townsend, with whom he resided 
th^ee years. He then went to old Lynn, where he spent three 
years more, a colleague with Mr. Price. While at that place, 
complaints were made to the Bishop of Norwich, of his non- 
conformity in administering the services of the church, on which 
he removed to Skirbick, one mile from old Boston. There the 
complaints were renewed, on which he determined to sell his 
possessions and embark for America. He remarked, " I am 
going into the wilderness, to sacrifice unto the Lord, and I will 
not leave a hoof behind me." The beauty, piety, and harmony 
of the church, in our own time, induce us to wonder why a 
pious man should have objected to her services. But the 
church, at that period, demanded more than is now required; 
and the dissenters, by their repugnance to those ceremonies 
and requisitions which were excessive, were driven to revolt 
against those forms which were really judicious. 

Mr. Whiting sailed from England in the beginning of April, 
1636, and arrived in Boston on the twenty-sixth of May. He 
was very sick on his passage, during which he preached but 



/ 

ANNALS OP LYNN — 1679. 269 

one sermon. He observed that he would " much rather have 
undergone six weeks imprisonment for a good cause, than six 
weeks of such terrible sea sickness." He came to Lynn in June, 
and was installed on the eighth of November, at the age of 
thirty-nine. He waa admitted to the privileges of a freeman on 
the seventeenth of December. His residence was nearly oppo- 
site the meeting-house, in Shepard street. He had a walk in 
his orchard, in which he used to indulge his habit of meditation ; 
and some who frequently saw him walking there, remarked, 
*' There does our dear pastor walk with God every day." An 
anecdote related of him, will serve to illustrate his character. 
In one of his excursions to a neighboring town, he stopped at a 
tavern, where a company were revelling. As he passed their 
door, he thus addressed them: " Friends, if you are sure that 
your sins are pardoned, you may be wisely merry." He is re- 
puted to have been a man of good learning, and an excellent 
Hebrew scholar. In 1649, he delivered a Latin oration at Cam- 
bridge, a copy of which is preserved in the library of the 
Massachusetts Historical Society. He employed much of his 
leisure in reading history ; and he could scarcely have chosen 
a study more indicative of the seriousness and solidity of his 
mind. He possessed great command over his passions, was 
extremely mild and affable in his deportment, and his counte- 
nance was generally illumined by a smile. He was chosen 
moderator in several ecclesiastical councils, and appears to have 
been generally respected. In his preaching, he was ardent and 
devoted ; but he Avas less disposed to frighten his hearers by 
wild and boisterous efforts, than to win them to virtue by mild 
and persuasive eloquence. 

In the latter part of his life, Mr. Whiting was aflSicted by a 
complication of disorders, and endured many hours of most ex- 
cruciating pain. But .his patience wag inexhaustible, and his 
strength enabled him to continue the performance of the public 
services till a very advanced age, in which he was assisted by 
his youngest son, Joseph. A short time before his death, he 
presented to the General Court a claim for five hundred acres 
of land, which he had by deed of gift from his brother-in-law, 
Mr. Richard Westland, an alderman of Boston, in England, who 
had loaned money to the colony of Massachusetts. As the claim 
had been some time due, the Court allowed him six hundred 
acres. [As this petition recounts several interesting facts, and 
withal so faithfully exhibits the meek and pious spirit of the 
venerable man, we insert it entire. The signature is a fac-simile, 
as carefully traced from the original, which is still in good pre- 
servation in the state archives. The tremulous hand indicates 
age and infirmity ; and he lived but a few months after the 
petition was drawn. 
W* 



\ 

270 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1679. 

The humble petition of Samuel Wliiting, senr, of Lyn, sheweth, that whereas 
your petitioner upon my conieing to New England, which is now about forty 
three years since, had per deed of gift of my kinde brother in law, INIr. 
Richard Westland, of Boston, in England, alderman, in consideration of his 
disbursement of fifty pounds of lawful money of England, in way of loan to 
this colony, then low, and in its beginning, wliich sum the said Mr. Westland 
did deliver and pay unto some of ye chief agents of this patent then, which 
was some years before I left England, they promising him a compensation 
with a farme of five hundred acres of upland and meadow, convenient and 
nigh within the Bay ; I say, the wholl interest in the premises by fair deed 
and gift, by the gentleman himself freely given to myself and wife and our 
heires forever, as without fallacie I doe averr and testify l>8fore God and your 
honoured selves, being a dyeing man, and goeing out of this world, and shortly 
to appear before the Lord Jesus, y^ Judge of all. 

My humble request, and the last petition I shall ever make application of to 
this honorable assembly is, that haveing been so long in the country, and as 
long in yo work of the Lord, and God haveing given me issue, wlioni I am 
shortly to leave, haveing little, of a considerable estate I brought, left for them,- 
that your honors would pleas to grant to myself and my heirs, that wh. pei 
ye free gift of my brother is our right, viz, five or six hundred acres of land 
and meadow, wh. hath been my due about tliis forty years, although never 
motioned but once to this assembly, nor should have noAV been insisted on, 
could I in conscience of God's command and duty to mine as a father, be 
silent, and soe they lose their right in what belongs to them ; or if I could die 
with serenity of soiile upon consideration of the premises, should I neglect to 
use this meanes of an humble remonstrance. 

I doe therefore humbly reitterat my request, wherein I mention nothing of 
use or tor forbearance so long time past, dues and donations, only the 5 or 
six hundred acres, that my children may inherit what is righteously their 
owne, and youis to grant, and which I hope will not be denyed, beeing of 
itselfe so just to be requested, and so most equitable and just to be granted. 

Thus begging the Lord's presence to be amongst you, and his face to shine 
on this your court, the country, and churches, that we may be saved, and 
that ye choice blessing, divine wisdom, councell and conduct', may preside in 
all tilings, I leave the whole matter to your honored selves, and" yourselves 
with the Lord. 

Your humble petitioner, friend ever, and servant for Christ's sake, though 
ready to depart dicing. 

this 23 of April ann. 1679. K Orvi 1A pi. 

iVitllGSSGS - f\ ^ «* L- H~ ^ 

Henry Rhodes, 'rV HlPl^ \,r 

Samuel Gobbet.] f^ 

Mr. Whiting made his will on the 25th of February, 1679. 
He commences thus : " After my committing of my dear flock 
unto the tender care of that great and good Shepherd, the Lord 
Jesus Christ." He gave his son Samuel, at Billerica, his house 
and four hundred acres of land at Dunstable, valued at £362, 
and fourteen acres of marsh, at Lynn; and his son Joseph, his 
dwelhng-house, orchard, and eight acres of marsh, at Lynn. And 
he remembered iiis other children. His money and plate amount- 
ed to £77.2 ; and liis whole estate to X570.15.6. He died on the 
11th of December, 1679, at the age of 82; having preached at 
Lynn, forty-three years. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1679. 271 

The death of Mr. "Whiting; called forth the following elegy 
from the pen of Mr. Benjansin Thompson, a schoolmaster, born 
at Braintree, and the first native American poet. 

UPON THE VERY LE.IRNED SAMUEL ^VHITmG. 

Mount, Fame, the glorious cliariot of the sun! 
Through the world's cirque, all you, her heralds, run, 
And let this great saint's merits be revealed. 
Which during life he studiously concealed. 
Cite all the Levites, fetch the sons of art, 
In these our dolors to sustain a part ; 
Warn all that value worth, and every one 
Within their eyes to bring a Helicon ; 
For in this single person we have lost 
More riches than an India has engrost. 

Wlien Wilson, that plerophory of love, 
Did from our banks up to his centre move, 
Rare Whiting quotes Columbus on this coast, 
Producing gems of wliich a kijig might boast. 
More splendid far than ever Aaron wore, 
Within his breast this sacred father bore, 
Sound doctrine, Urini, in Iiis holy cell, 
And all perfections, Thummim, there did dwell. 
His holy vesture was his innocence ; 
His speech, embroideries of curious sense- 
Such awful gravity this doctor used, 
As if an angel every word infused ; 
No turgent style, but Asiatic lore ; 
Conduits were ahnost full, seldom run o'er 
The banks of time — come visit when you will, 
The streams of nectar were descending still. 
Much like semtemfluous Nilus, rising so. 
He watered Christians round, and made them gi-ow; 
His modest whispers, could tlie conscience reach. 
As well as whirlwinds, which some others preach. 
No Boanerges, yet could touch the heart, 
And clench his doctrine with the meekest art. 
His learning and his language might become 
A province not inferior to Rome. 
Glorious was Europe's heaven, when such as these. 
Stars of his size, shone in each diocese. 

Wlio writ'st the fathers' lives, either make room. 
Or with his name begin your second tome. 
Aged Polycarp, deep Origen, and such. 
Whose worth your quills, your wits not them enrich; 
Lactantius, Cyprian, Basil,* too, the great, 
Quaint Jerome, Austin, of the foremost seat. 
With Ambrose, and more of the highest class 
In Christ's great school, with honor I let pass. 
And humbly pay my debt to Whiting's ghost. 
Of whom both Englands may with reason boast. 
Nations tor men of lesser worth have strove 
To have the fame, and in transports of love 
Built temples, or fixed statues of pure gold. 
And their vast worth to after ages told. 



272 ' ANNALS OF LYNN — 1679. 



His modesty forbade so fair a tomb, 

Who in ten thousand hearts obtained a room. 

What sweet composure in his angel face ! 
What soft affections! melting gleams of grace! 
How mildly pleasant! by his closed lips 
Rhetoric's bright body suffers an eclipse. 
Should half liis sentences be fairly numbered, 
And weighed in wisdom's scales, 'twould spoil a Lombard, 
And churches' homilies but homily be, 
If, venerable Whiting, set by thee. 
Profouiidest judgment, with a meekness rare, 
Preferred him to the moderator's cliair. 
Where, like truth's cham])ion, witli his piercing eye," 
He silenced errors, and bade Hectors fly. 
Soft answers quell hot passions, ne'er too soft, 
Where solid judgment is enthroned aloft. 
Church doctors are my witnesses, that here 
Affections always keep their proper sphere 
Without those wilder eccentricities. 

Which s))ot the fairest fields of men most wise. ' 

In pleasant places fall that people's line, 
Who have but shadows of men thus divine; 
Much more their presence, and heaven-piercing prayers, 
Thus many years to mind our soul affairs. 

The poorest soil oft has the richest mine ! 
This weighty ore, poor Lynn, was lately thine. 
O, wondrous mercy ! but this glorious light 
Hath left thee in the terrors of the night. 
New England, didst thou know this mighty one. 
His weiglit and worth, thou 'dst think thyself undone. 
One of thy golden cliariots, which among 
The clergy rendered thee a thousand strong ; 
One who lor learning, wisdom, grace, and years, 
Among the Ivcvites, liath not many peers ; 
One, yet Avith God, a kind of heavenly band. 
Who did whole regiments of woes withstand ; 
One that jirevailed with heaven ; one greatly mist 
On earth, he gained of Christ whate'er he list; 
One of a world, who was both born and bred 
At wisdom's feet, hard by the fountain's head. 
The loss of such a one would fetch a tear 
From Niobe herself, if she were here. 
What qualifies our grief, centres in this ; 
Be our loss ne'er so great, the gain is his. 

The following epitaph has been applied to him by Mr. Mather. 

In Christo vixi morior, vivoque, Whitingus; * 

Do sordes morti, cetera, O Cliriste, tibi, do. 

In Christ I lived and died, and yet I live ; 
My dust to earth, my soul to Christ, I give. 

Mr. Whiting published the following pamphlets and books. 
1. A Latin Oration, delivered at Cambridge, on Commence- 
ment day, 1649. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1679. 273 

2. A Sermon preached before the Ancient and Honorable 
Artillery Company, at Boston, 1660. 

3. A Discourse of the Last Judgment, or Short Notes upon 
Matthew 25, from verse 31 to the end of the chapter, concerning 
the Judgment to come, and our preparation to stand before the 
great Judge of quick and dead ; which are of sweetest comfort 
to the elect sheep, and a most dreadful amazement and terror 
to reprobate goats. (Cambridge, 1661, 12mo. 160 pages.) 

4. Abraham's Humble Intercession for Sodom, and the Lord's 
Gracious Answer in Concession thereto. (Cambridge, 1666, 
12mo. 319 pages.) From this work the following extracts are 
taken. 

What is it to di-aw nigh to God in prayer ? It is not to come with loud 
expressions, when we pray before Him. Loud crying in the ears of God, is 
not to draw near to God. They are nearer to God, that silently whisper in 
His ears and tell Him what they want, and what they would have of Him. 
They have the King's ear, not that call loudest, but those that speak softly to 
him, as those of the council and bed chamber. So they are nearest God, and 
have His ear most that speak softly to Him in prayer. 

In what manner are we to draw nigh to God in prayer ? In sincerity, with 
a true heart. Truth is tlie Christian soldier's girdle. We must be true at all 
times ; much more, when we fall upon our knees and pray before the Lord. 

We, in this country, have left our near relations, brothers, sisters, fathers' 
houses, nearest and dearest friends ; but if we can get nearer to God here, He 
will be instead of all, more than all t^ us. He hath the fulness of all the 
sweetest relations bound up in Ilim. We may take that out of God, that we 
forsook in father, mother, brother, sister, and friend, that hath been as near 
and dear as our own soul. 

Even among the most wicked sinners, there may be found some righteous ; 
some corn among the chaff — some jewels among the sands — some pearls 
among a multitude of shells. 

Who hath made England to differ from other nations, that more jewels are 
found there than elsewhere ? or what hath that Island that it hath not received ? 
The East and West Indies yield their gold, and pearl, and sweet spices; but 
I know where the golden, spicy, fragrant Christians be — England hath yielded 
these. Yet not England, but the grace of God, that hath been ever with them. 
We see what hope we may have concerning New England ; tliough we do 
not deserve to be named the same day with om* dear mother. 

In enumerating the evils with which the people of New Eng- 
land were obliged to contend, he says, it is cause " for humilia- 
tion, that our sins have exposed us to live among such wicked 
sinners," with whom he ranks ''Atheists and Quakers." 

Mr. Whiting married two wives in England. By his first wife 
he had three children. Two of them were sons, who, with their 
mother, died in England. The other was a daughter, wlio came 
with her father to America, and married Mr. Thomas Weld, of 
Roxbury. 

His second wife was Elizabeth St. John of Bedfordshire, to 
whom he was married in 1630. She was. a daughter of Oliver 
St. John, Chief Justice of England in the time of Oliver Crom- 
well. She came to Lynn with her husband, and died on the 

18 



274 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1679. 

third of March, 1677, aged 72 years. She was a woman of 
uncommon piety, seriousness, and discretion ;" and not only 
assisted her husband in writing his sermons, but by her care 
and prudence reheved him from all attention to temporal con- 
cerns. 

[Mrs. "Whiting was a sister, not a daughter, of Chief Justice 
St. John. Her pedigree, as given by Clifford Stanley Simms, 
of Philadelphia, may be found in the New England Historical 
and Genealogical Register, v. 14, p. 61. It is there stated that 
Elizabeth St. John Whiting was sixth cousin to King Henry 
VII. Through the Beauchamps, she descended from the Earls 
of Warren and Surrey ; from the Earls of Warwick, from William 
the Conqueror, and from King Henry I. of France. Indeed her 
pedigree is traced to William the Norman, in two distinct lines ; 
and in herwere united the lineage of ten of the sovereigns of 
Europe, a confluence of noble blood not often witnessed. And 
yet she appears to have passed her days here at L3'nn, undis- 
turbed by ambitious yearnings, cleaving lovingly to her worthy 
husband, and sedulously performing the duties of a laborious 
pastor's wife. Surely here is an example of humility for some 
of the worldlings who now traverse our streets, swelling with 
pride if they can trace their lineage to an ancestor who bore, 
however ignobly, some small tTtle, or who happened to possess, 
however unworthily, a few more acres or a few more dollars 
than the multitude around him.] 

By his second wife, Mr. Whiting had six children ; four sons 
and two daughters. One daughter married the Rev. Jeremiah 
Hobart of Topsfield ; and one son and one daughter died at 
Lynn. The other three sons received an education at Cam- 
bridge. 

1. Rev. Samuel Whiting, Jr., was born in England, 1633. 
He studied with his fither, at Lynn, and graduated at Cam- 
bridge, in 1653. He was ordained minister of Billerica, 11 No- 
vember, 1663 ; preached the Artillery Election Sermon, in 1682 ; 
and died 28 February, 1713, aged 79 years. The name of his 
wife was Dorcas, and he had ten children. 1. Elizabeth. 2. 
Samuel. 3. Rev. John, minister at Lancaster; where he was 
killed by the Indians, 11 September, 1697, at the age of 33. 4. 
Oliver. 5. Dorothy. 6. Joseph. 7. James. 8. Eunice. 9. 
Benjamin. 10. Benjamin, again. 

2. Rev. John Whiting, graduated at Cambridge, in 1653. 
He returned to England, became a minister of the Church, and 
died at Leverton, in Lincolnshire, 11 October, 1689, very exten- 
sively respected. 

3. Rev. Joseph Whiting, graduated in 1661. * He was ordained 
at Lynn, 6 October, 1680, and soon after removed to Southamp- 
ton, on Long Island. He married Sarah Danforth, of Cambridge, 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1680. 275 

daughter of Thomas Danforth, Deputy Governor. He had six 
children, born at Lynn. 1. Samuel, born 3 July, 1674, 2. Jo- 
seph, b. 22 Nov. i675. 3. Joseph, again, b. 8 Mav, 1677. 4. 
Thomas, b. 20 May, 1678. 5. Joseph, again, b. 14 Jan. 1680. 
6. John, b. 20 Jan. 1681. All except the first and sixth, died 
"within a few weeks of their birth. 

Of the descendants of Mr. Whiting, now [1844] living, are the 
Rev. Samuel Whiting, minister at Billerica ; and Henry Whiting, 
an ofEcer in the service of the United States, and author of a 
beautiful little Indian tale, entitled Ontwa, or the Son of the 
Forest. 

[Caroline Lee Hentz, one of the most esteemed of American 
prose writers, descended from this venerable minister of the 
Lynn church. She was a daughter of Gen. John Whiting, who 
did good service in the Revolution, and died at Washington, in 
1810. And Gen. Henry Whiting, of the United States army, 
quite distinguished also for his literary attainments, was a bro- 
ther of hers. She was born at Lancaster, Mass., in 1800, and 
was married in 1825, at Northampton, to Mr. N. M. Hentz, a 
French gentleman of education and talents, who was at that 
time, in connection with George Bancroft, the historian, con- 
ducting a seminary at Northampton. Soon after marriage, they 
removed to North Carolina, where Mr. Hentz became a profes- 
sor in the college at Chapel Hill. They afterward lived at 
Covington, Ky. ; then at Cincinnati ; and then at Florence, Ala., 
where they established a flourishing seminary. In 1843, they 
removed their school to Tuscaloosa, Florida; and afterward 
they resided at Columbus, Ga. Mrs. Hentz died at the resi- 
dence of her son, Dr. Charles A. Hentz, at Mariana, Florida, in 
1856. And within a year afterward, her accomplished husband 
died at the same place. Hon. Jeremiah Mason, the distinguished 
lawyer and United States Senator, from New Hampshire, who 
died at Boston, 4 October, 1848, aged 80, was a descendant 
from Mr. Whiting; and the late Rev. Dr. Charles Mason, rector 
of Grace Church, Boston, son of Jeremiah, was conspicuous for 
his talents and piety. 

[In May, of this year, a new troop was formed at Lynn, con- 
sisting of forty-eight men, who petitioned the General Court 
that Capt. Richard Walker might be appointed commander. The 
magistrates named Walker, for captain ; Ralph King, lieutenant ; 
John Lewis, cornet ; and William Bassett, quarter-master.] 

1680. 

[On the 9th of June, the town of Groton voted to give Thomas 
Beall, of Lynn, tanner, ten acres of land, provided he would go 
and live there, " and be not ahenating or selling it." Probably 
he did not accept the offer, for on the 14th of August, 1691, 



276 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1680. 

the town of Lynn voted, " that Thomas Beall should live in the 
watch house." 

[Joseph Armitage died this year. In the administration ac- 
count, filed in July, occur these items : " For coffin, vaile, 
and digging the grave, 14s. In wine and Sider, for his buriall, 
£2."] 

On the 6th of October, Mr. Jeremiah Shepard was ordained 
pastor, and Mr. Joseph Whiting teacher, of the church at Lynn. 

On the 18th of November, a very remarkable cornet made its 
appearance, and continued about two months. The train was 
thirty degrees in length, very broad and bright, and nearly 
attained the zenith. A memorandum on a Bible leaf, thus re- 
marks : *' A blazing star, at its greatest height, to my appre- 
hension, terrible to behold." It was regarded by most people 
with fear, as the sign of some great calamity. This was the 
comet on which Sir Isaac Newton made his interesting obser- 
vations. While the party, who were pred eminent in religious 
afikirs, were noting every misfortune which befell those of a 
different opinion, as the judgments of God ; they, on the other 
hand, regarded the earthquakes, the comets, and the blighting 
of the wheat, as manifestations of his displeasure against their 
persecutors. [Judge Sewall remarks, in an interleaved almanac, 
about the time the comet disappeared, " And thus is this prodi- 
gious spectacle removed, leaving the world in a fearful expecta- 
tion of what may follow. Sure it is that these things are not 
sent for nothing, though man cannot say particularly for what. 
They are by most thought to be forerunners of evil coming 
upon the world, though some think otherwise." So, it appears, 
there were some above the common superstitions of the time. 
The period of this comet being five hundred and seventy-five 
years, it will not again appear till the year 2255. And how 
inconceivable must be the distance that it journeys into space, 
moving as it does in the known portions of its orbit, with start- 
ling rapidity. Increase Mather, in his introduction to a lecture, 
remarks, " As for the blazing star which hath occasioned this 
discourse, it was a terrible sight indeed, especially about the 
middle of December last."] 

Dr. Philip Read, of Lynn, complained to the court at Salem, 
of Mrs. Margaret Gilford, as being a witch. She was a respect- 
able woman, and wife of Mr. John Gilford, formerly agent for 
the Iron AVorks. The complainant said, " he verily believed 
that she was a witch, for there were some things which could 
not be accounted for by natural causes." Mrs. Gififord gave no 
regard to her summons, and the Court very prudently suspended 
their inquiries. 

" We present the wife of John Davis, of Lynn, for breaking 
her husband's head with a quart pot." (Essex Court Rec.) 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1681, 1G82. 277 



1681. 

[Samuel "Worcester a representive to the General Court, from 
Bradford, diod in the road, on the night of 20 February, in what 
is now Saugus, on his way to Boston, to attend an adjourned 
session. He was a son of Rev, WilHam Worcester, and was a 
man distinguished for his piety and enterprise. He had walked 
from Bradford, and, much wearied, gained the tavern at Saugus. 
Being unable to obtain accommodation there, he endeavored to 
reach the house of a /riend. In the morning, he was found 
dead, in the middle of the road, in a kneeling posture. He was 
^f the family from which Rev. Dr. Worcester, the congregational 
minister who for some time supplied the pulpit at Swampscot, 
descended.] 

In town meeting, on the 2d of March, the people voted that 
Mr. Shepard should be allowed eighty pounds, lawful money, a 
year, for his salary ; one third of which was to be paid in money, 
and the other two thirds in articles of domestic production, at 
stipulated prices. Besides the salary, a contribution was kept 
ppen. 

[A great drought prevailed during the summer months. The 
growing crops were injured to the amount of many thousand 
pounds. " Yet God hath gratiously left vs enough for a meat 
and drink offering," piously adds Bradstreet, in his journal. 

[The Court passed an order that Lynn might have two licensed 
public houses.] 

1682. 

The Meeting House was this year removed from Shepard 
street to the centre of the Common and rebuilt. It was fifty 
feet long, and forty-four wide. It had folding doors on three 
sides, without porches. The top of each door was formed into 
two semicircular arches. The windows consisted of small dia- 
mond panes set in sashes of lead. The floor was at first supplied 
with seats; and pews were afterward separately set up by indi- 
viduals, as they obtained permission of the town. By this means 
the interior came at length to present a singular appearance. 
Some of the pews were large, and some small ; some square, 
and some oblong; some with seats on three sides, and some 
with a seat on one side ; some with small oak panels, and some 
with large pine ones ; and most of them were surmounted by a 
little balustrade, with small columns, of various patterns, accord- 
ing to the taste of the proprietors. Most of the square pews had 
a chair in the centre, for the comfort of the old lady or gentle- 
man, the master or mistress of the family, by whom it was occu- 
pied. One pew, occupied by black people, was elevated above 
the stairs in one corner, near to the ceiling. [Meeting-houso 
X 



278 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G82. 

pews are considered to have been a New England invention.] 
The galleries were extended on three sides, supported by six 
oak columns, and guarded by a turned balustrade. They were 
ascended by two flights of stairs, one in each corner, on the 
south side. The pulpit was on the north side, and sufficiently 
large to contain ten persons. The top of the room was uncoiled 
for many years, and exhibited enormous beams of oak, travers- 
ing the roof in all directions. The light from the diamond 
windows in the gables shining down upon the great oak beams, 
presented quite a picturesque appearance. The roof presented 
four pediments; and was surmounted by a cupola, with a roof 
in the form of an inverted tunnel. It had a small bell, which 
was rung by a rope descending in the centre of the room. The 
town meetings continued to be held in this house till 1806. [For 
divers facts, traditions and legends, connected with this interest- 
ing edifice, see " Lin : or, Jewels of the Third Plantation." It 
was universally known as the Old Tunnel Meeting House, and 
remained on the Common till 1827. It stood opposite Whiting 
street. 

[Noadiah Russell, tutor at Harvard College, in a journal kept 
by him, under date 26 March, gives an account of a remarkable 
thunder storm which took place in the latter part of the after- 
noon, it being Sunday. There was a high wind and much hail, 
and the stones being large, many panes of glass were broken. 
And he adds these remarkable details, which he saj^s were sent 
in a letter from Rev. Mr. Shepard, of Lynn, to Mrs. Margaret 
Mitchell, of Cambridge, dated 3 April, 1682 : " Moreover, at Lyn, 
after sun down, as it began to be darkish, an honest old man, 
Mr. Handford, went out to look for a new moon, thinking the 
moon had changed, when in the west he espied a strange black 
cloud, in which, after some space, he saw a man in arms com- 
plete, standing with his legs straddling, and having a pike in his 
hands, which he held across his breast ; which sight y^ man, 
with his wife, saw, and many others. After a while y° man 
vanished, in whose room appeared a spacious ship, seeming 
under sail, though she kept the same station. They saw it, they 
said, as apparently as ever they saw a ship in the harbour w'h 
was to their imagination the handsomest of ever they saw, with 
a lofty stem, the head to the south, hull black, the sails bright. 
A long and resplendent streamer came from y^ top of y^ mast — 
this was seen for a great space, both by these and other of y® 
same town. After this they went in, where, tarrying but a 
while, and looking out again, all was gone, and y® sky as clear 
as ever." 

[This was, no doubt, an instance of the mirage produced 
by atmospheric refraction. Several remarkable instances are 
recorded in early New England history, of which the phan- 




'"''^■^i/ii.ssu.sr^bsra^ ^^=^2i^i=S=~=2**'' '^"^^ 



OLD T! XNEL MEETING HOUSE, LYNN. I<i82. riee p '277 
in tl'.e tbrejrros'.iid arf a couple of unruly wights coiiriued 
ill tlie Stocks, likewise a Dauie on her piliiou 
UikiiiK an aii-uuf with her Good-man. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G82. 



279 



torn ship at New Haven, furnishes an example. Similar occur- 
rences are often witnessed at this day, in this vicinity; but 
being easily accounted for, attract little attention. Our forefa- 
thers, not having made themselves acquainted with the natural 
causes of such appearances, and withal being fond of viewing 
themselves as objects of special notice with the powers above, 
awarded them supernatural honors. And their fears being ex- 
cited, their imaginations had assistance in filling up what was, 
perhaps, a very dim outline, and in rendering vivid what would 
otherwise have appeared very dull. And in like manner, it is 
probable that some things which to us appear wonderful and 
inexplicable, will to people of future years appear plain and 
natural. Mr. Lewis gives the following sketches, which aptly 
illustrate atmospheric phenomena occasionally seen hereabout. 




PHANTOM SHIPS. 




SUNRISE ON THE WATER. 



[In another entry made by Mr. Russell, under date 16 August, 
occurs this passage: "The next day, being Fryday, I went t(5 
wait on some company to Lvnspring, where, for company's sake, 
drinking too much cold water. I set myself in an ague w"*" camo 
on again on Sabbath and on Tuesday." Does he refer to tho 
Lynn Mineral Spring? The romantic grounds adjacent were 
visited by little pleasure parties at an early period.] 



280 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1683, 1684, 1685. 



1683. 

This year the heirs of Major Thomas Savage sold the six 
hundred acres, called Hammersmith, or the lands of the Iron 
Works, to Samuel Appleton, who thus became possessed of the 
whole property. In 1688, he sold the whole to James Taylor, 
of Boston, who was the last proprietor of the Iron Works, of 
whom I have found any record. They probably ceased opera- 
tions» about this time. [I think Mr. Lewis's statement here, 
concerning the time of the discontinuance of the Iron Works 
is more correct than his statement under date 1671, where he 
makes them to have been in operation, to some extent, till about 
the middle of century 1700.] 

1684. 

A letter written at Haverhill, this year, by N. Saltonstall, to 
the captain of a militia company, thus proceeds : " I have orders 
also to require you to provide a flight of colors for your foot 
company, the ground field or flight whereof is to be green, with 
a red cross in a white field in the angle, according to the ancient 
custom of our own English nation, and the English plantations 
in North America, and our own practice in our ships." This was 
the American standard, till the stripes and stars of 1776. 

[The English High Court of Chancery, at Trinity Term, gave 
judgment against the Massachusetts Government and Company, 
" that their letters patent and the enrolment thereof be cancel- 
led." This was the dissolution of the beloved old Charter, and 
a fresh impulse was given to those political agitations which 
surged on till the whole aspect of things was changed ; indeed 
till the colonies became an independent nation.] 

1685. 

The following singular deposition is transcribed from the 
files of the Quarterly Court, and is dated 1 July, 1685: "The 
deposition of Joseph Farr, and John Burrill, junior, testifieth 
and saith, that they being at the house of Francis Burrill, and 
there being some difference betwixt Francis Burrill and Benja- 
min Farr, and we abovesaid understanding that the said Benja- 
min Farr had been a suitor to Elizabeth Burrill, the daughter of 
Francis Burrill, and he was something troubled that Benjamin 
had been so long from his daughter, and the said Francis Burrill 
told the said Benjamin Farr that if he had more love to his marsh, 
or to- any estate of his, than to his daughter, he should not go 
into his house; for he should be left to his liberty; he should 
not be engaged to any thing more than he was freely willing to 
give his daughter, if he had her ; and this was about two days 
before they was married." 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G85. 281 

[A fast was appointed, 14 July, on account of the prevailing 
drought. Great ravages were committed by caterpillars.] 

At a town meeting, on the first of December, the people 
voted, that no inhabitant should cut any green tree upon the 
common hinds, which was less than one foot in diameter. 

The following petition of some of the inhabitants of Lynn, 
for a remuneration of their services in the Wampanoag war, was 
presented this year. 

To tlie Honoured Governor and Company, the General Court of the 3Iassa- 
chusetts Bay, that is to be assembled the 27 May, 1G85, the liumble petition 
of several inhabitants of Lynn, who were sold', impressed, and sent forth 
lor the service of the country, that was with the Indians in the long march in 
tlie Nipmugg country, and the fight at the fort in Narragansett, humbly show- 
eth, That your petitioners did, in obedience unto the authority which God hath 
set over tliem, and love to their country, leave their dearc relations, some of us 
our dear wives and children, Avhich we would have gladlv remained at home, 
and the bond of love and duty Avould have bound us to choose rather soe to 
have done considering the season and time of the year, when that hard service 
was to be performed. But your petitioners left what was dear to them, and 
preferred the publique weal above the ])rivate enjoyments, and did cleave 
thereunto, and exposed ourselves to the difliculties and' hardships of the winter, 
as well as the dangers of tliat cruel warr, with consideration to the enemy. 
What oiu- liardsliips and difliculties were is well known to some of your wor- 
ships, being oiu- honoured magistrates, as also what mercy it was from the 
Loid, who alone preserved us, and gave us our lives for a prey, by leading us 
through such imminent dangers, whereby the Lord gave) us to see many of 
our dear friends lose their blood and life, which might have been our case, 
but that God soe disposed toward us deliverance aiifl strength to returne to 
our homes, which we desire to remember and acknowledge to his most glori- 
ous praise. But yet, we take the boldues to signific to this honored Court, 
how that service was noe whitt to our particular outward advantage, but to 
the contrary, much to our disadvantage. Had we had the liberty of staying 
at home, as our neighbors had, though we had paid double rates, it would 
have been to our advantage, as indeed we did pay our properties by our es- 
tates in the publick rates to the utjriost bounds. Notwithstanding all, yet we 
humbly conceive, that by tlie suppression of the enemy which God of his great 
mercy vouchsafed, wee poor soldiers and servants to the country were instru- 
ments to firocure much land, which we doubt not shall and will be improved, 
by the prudence of this honored Court, unto people that need most especially. 
And we, your poor petitioners, are divers of us in need of land, for want 
wliereof some of us are forced upon considerations of departing this Colony 
and Government, to seek accommodations wiiereby the better to maintaine the 
cliarge in our families, with our wives and children, and to leave unto them, 
vvhen the Lord shall take us away by deatli, whicli we must expect. And 
divers of us have reason to fear our days may be nuich shoitened by our hard 
service in the war, from the pains and aches of our bodies, that we feel in our 
bones and sinews, and lameness thereby taking hold of us much, especially at 
the spring and fall, whereby we are hindered and disabled of that ability for 
our labour which we constantly had, througii the mercy of God, before, that 
served in the warrs. Now, your poore petitioners are hopeful this honored 
Court will be moved with consideration and some respect to the poor soldiery, 
and particularly to us, that make bold to prefer our petition, humbly to crave, 
that we, whose names a^-e hereunto subscribed, may be so graciously consid- 
ered by this honored Court as to grant us some good tracks of land in the 
Nipmugg country, wliere we may find a place for a township, that we, your 
petitioners, and our posterity may live iii the same colony where our fathers 



282 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G8G, 1687. 

did, and left us, and probably many of those who went fellow soldiers in the 
war may be provided for. and their children also, in the portion of conquered 
lands their favhcrs fouirht for. Your petitioners think it is but a very reasona- 
ble request, wljich will be no way offensive to this honored Court, which, if 
they shall please to grant unto your petitioners, it will not only be satisfaction 
to their spirits lor their sei-vice already done, but be a future obligation to them 
and theirs after them for future service, and ever to pray. 

This petition was signed by twenty-five inhabitants of Lynn, 
whose names were: William Bassett, John Farrington, Nathan- 
iel Ballard, Timothy Breed, Jonathan Locke, Daniel Johnson, 
Widow Hathorne, Samuel Tarbox, Samnel Graves, John Ed- 
munds, Samuel Johnson, Daniel Golt, Joseph Hawkes, Andrew 
Townsend, John Davis, Joseph Collins, Samuel Mower, Robert 
(Potter, senior, Joseph Mansfield, Robert Driver, John Richards, 
John Lindsey, Philip" Xertland, Joseph Breed, Henry Rhodes. 
It was also signed by sixteen persons of other towns. On the 
3d of June, the Court granted them a tract of land in Worcester 
county, eight miles square, on condition that thirty families, with 
an orthodox minister, should settle there within four years. 

[Oliver Purchis of Lynn, was appointed on a committee to 
revise the laws. He was also elected Assistant ; but the record 
adds, " he declined his oath." He had not probably finished 
his days of vexation and mourning on account of the dissolution 
of the old Charter.] 

. 168G. 

Mr. Oliver Purchis was chosen Town Clerk. 

" A great and terrible drouth, mostly in the 4th month, [June] 
and continued in the 5th month, with but little rain; but the 
18th, being the Sabbath, we had a sweet rain." 

James Quonopohit and David Kunkshamooshaw, descendants 
of Nanapashemet, sold a lot of land on the west side of the Iron 
Works' pond, on the 28th of Jul}^ to Daniel Llitchings. 

[This year, also, David Kunkshamooshaw, and divers of his 
kindred, heirs of old Sagamore George No-Nose alias Wenepoy- 
kin, gave a deed confirming the title of the town to the lands 
on which it stood. For a copy of this deed, and remarks con- 
cerning it, see page 49, et seq.] 

1687. 

At a town meeting on the 15th of February, "the town voted 
the Selectmen be a committee to look after encroached lands, 
or highways, from Francis Burrill's barn to the gate that is by 
Timothy Breed's, or parcels of land in places least prejudicial 
to the town, and make good sale of any of them on the Town's 
behalf, for money to pay the Indians at the time appointed, and 
the necessary charges of that affair." 

On the IGth of February, Capt. Thomas Marshall exchanged 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1687. 283 

with the town his right in Stone's meadow, in Lynnfield, for a 
right in Edwards's meadow; and the town, at the request of Mr. 
Shepard, made a grant of it to the ministry. 

[Thomas Newhall, aged 57, the first white person born in 
Lynn, was buried in the Old Burying Ground, near the west 
end of Lynn Common, 1 Aprih] 

Mr. Shepard kept the school several months this winter. Ed- 
ucation, with the children of the early settlers, was a matter of 
convenience rather than of accomplishment. I have seen the 
signatures of several hundreds of the first settlers, and have fac- 
similes of many, and they are quite as good as an equal number 
of signatures taken at random at the present day. But in clear- 
ing the forest, and obtaining a subsistence, they had little leisure 
for their children to spend in study; and a month or two in 
winter, under the care of the minister, was the principal oppor- 
tunity which they had to obtain the little learning requisite for 
their future life. The consequence was, that the generations 
succeeding the early settlers, from 1650 to 1790, were generally 
less learned than the first settlers, or than those who have lived 
since the Revolution. 

[The statement of Mr. Lewis in the second sentence of the 
foregoing paragraph may rather confuse than enlighten. The 
establishment of schools here, had a religious purpose. Thus, 
the legislative enactment of 1647, commences, " It being one 
chief proiect of y' ould deludor, Satan, to keepe men from the 
knowledge of y^ Scriptures, as in former times by keeping them 
in an unknown tongue, so in these latter times, by persuading 
from y^ use of tongues, y* so at least y® true sence and meaning 
of y'^ originall might be clouded by false glosses of saint-seeming 
deceivers, y' learning may not be buried in y'' grave of our 
fathers in y® church and commonwealth, y^ Lord assisting our 
endeavors : It is therefore ordered y* every towneship in this 
jurisdiction after y® Lord hath increased them to y^ number of 
50 householders shall then forthwith appoint one within their 
towne to teach all such children as shall resort to him, to write 
and reade," &c. ..." And it is further ordered, y' where any 
towne shall increase to y® number of 100 families, or household- 
ers, they shall set up a grammar schoole, y*^ master thereof being 
able to instruct youth so farr as they may be fitted for y® uni- 
versity, provided y* if any towne neglect y® performance hereof 
above one yeare, then every such towne shall pay £5 to y*^ next 
schoole till they shall performe this order." In 1654, the Court 
prohibited the teaching of schools by persons of "unsound 
doctrine." Were such a ."prohibit-ion in force now, we should 
see in a glaring light the result of the religious independency 
they held so dear. Who would be authorized to determine 
what unsound doctrine is? And is it not a melancholy fact, 



284 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1688. 

that in our day, either from an nndefinable fear of meddling 
with some right of conscience, or from some other loose appre- 
hension, the intellectual training in our schools is treated as 
altogether superior to the moral? Nay has not the moral beer 
well-nigh thrust out of doors? And yet, is it not, in sober 
truth, of quite as much importance that children should, day by^ 
day, be instructed in the principles that are to rule their desti- 
nies for all eternity, as in the principles that have relation only 
to the arts of money making or at best mere intellectual disci- 
pline? It does not appear that the Bible was used, at least to 
much extent, as a school book, our discreet fathers probably 
having too much veneration for the sacred volume to devote it, 
intact, to so common a purpose. But the Psalter, containing 
extracts from Solomon's Proverbs, selections from the Psalms 
of David, and, iu some editions, selections from the Parables 
of the New Testament, was long in use. And we are persuaded 
that no special evil would flow if a similar book were introduced 
into the schools which are the boast of this day. Even por- 
tions of the Church Prayer Book were used for devotional 
purposes,] 

1688. 

During the administration of Sir Edmund Andros, the people 
of Lynn had an opportunity of witnessing the tendency of arbi- 
trary government. Andros had been appointed by the British 
King, James II., Governor of all New England, and came over 
in 1686 to exercise that authority; and his administration, for 
two years, was characterized by many acts of arbitrary power. 
He asserted that the people of Massachusetts had forfeited their 
charter, and that all the lands belonged to the King. Edward 
Randolph, his Secretary, looking round among these lands-, to 
see where he might establish a little dukedom, fixed his atten- 
tion upon the beautiful domain of Nahant, which he requested 
the Governor to give to him. The following is a copy of his 
petition. 

To his Excellency, Sir Edtrnjnd Andros, Knitrht, Governor, &c. &c. 

The humble petition of Edward Randolph, that there is a certain tract of 
land nigli the Township of Lynn, in the County of Essex, in this His Majesty's 
territory and dominion, out offence and undivided, containing about five liun- 
dred acres, commonly called Nahant neck, for which your petitioner humbly 
prays His Majesty's grant, and that your Excellence would please to issue a 
warrant to the Surveyor-General to admeasure the same, in order to passing 
a patent, he paying such moderate quitreut as your Excellence sliall please to 
direct, &c. Ed. Randolph. 

On the reception of this modest petition, the Council, on Fri- 
day, the third of February, directed the constables to '^ Give 
public notice in the said town of Lynn, that, if any person or 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1688. 285 

persons have any claim or pretence to the said land, they appear 
before his Excellency, the Governor, in Council, on Wednesday, 
the seventh of :March next, then and there to show forth tlio 
same, and why the said land may not be granted to the peti- 
tioner," In pursuance of this order, the constable John Ed- 
munds, notified a town meeting, which was held on the 5th of 
March, when a committee was'chosen, who made the following 
representation. 

To his Excellency, Sir Edmund Andros, Kiii-rlit, and our Ilonoralile Gover- 
nor, Avitli his Honorahle Council to sit witii him, on Wednesday, the seventh 
of this histant March, 1688. 

Having received an order upon the second day of this instant March, that 
orders our constables of Lynn, or cither of tlieni, to give puljlic notice in the 
said town of Lynn, of a petition of ]Mr. Edward Randolph, Esq.. read in a 
council held in JBoston, on the third day of Febiuary, 1(388, praying His Majes- 
ty's grant of a certain tract of land, therein called vacant land, lying nigh the 
t'ovm of Lynn, called Nahant, «fcc., as also, that, if any person or persons have 
any claim "or pretence to the said lands, they aj)pear holbre Iiis Excellency, in 
council, on Wednesday, the seventh of this instant INIarcli, to show forth the 
same, and why the said land may not be granted to the petition. &c. 

Wherefore, we, the proprietors of the pasture of Nahant, and inhabitants 
of Lynn, have, in obedience to our present Honorable Governor, and his Hon- 
orable Council, presented before them as followeth. 

Imjmmis: Our humble and most thankful acknowledgment of the favor 
showed unto us, in giving us notice of such an enterprise, as whereby, shoidd it 
take effect, would so extremely indamage so many of His Majesty's good sub- 
jects at once ; whereby we conclude His Excellency, our Honorable Governor, 
and his Honorable Coimcil. are such as will search for and do justice, and 
maintain the cause of the innocent, weak, and poor, as we humbly and sin- 
cerely acknowledge ourselves to be ; and yet being clearly satisfied of our just 
right in the tract of lands petitioned for, have good hope our honorable rulers 
will, of clemency and justice, adhere to, hear and weigh reasons herein pre- 
sented, why we cannot comply with Mr. Edward Randolph's petition for the 
alienation of our Nahants ; which, we humbly conceive, is gronndlessly repre- 
sented to be a parcel of vacant land, and therefore must apply ourselves to 
demonstrate to our Honorable Governor, and liis Honorable Coimcil the con- 
trary. And although the time is very short indeed for us to lay before your 
Honors to vindicate our just right to our Nahants, j'ct our endeavors shall be 
as effectual as we can in so short a time as we have to bethink ourselves, and 
show your Honors, that it is not vacant land, and that the prop'rietors have a 
true and just right thereunto, wherefore we present your honors as followeth. 
That we have in our records, that in the year 163,). this tract of land, viz. 
our Nahants, was in the hands of the freemen of Lynn to dispose of; who did 
then grant unto several inhabitants to plant, and build upon, and possess ; and, 
if they did not perform the conditions, they, to whom it was granted, forfeited 
the land to the town again, to dispose as shall be tliought fit; and among 
those to whom these lands were granted, that worthy and lionorable gentle- 
man, INIr. Humphreys, was one, Avho was a patentee and an assistant in the 
first government ; therefore, sure it was the town's land then. 

That these inhabitants that did build and dwell there, they were tributaries, 
or tenants, and paid their yearly rent to the town as long as they lived, or 
were removed by the town ; as to instance, one Robert Coates yet living, to 
testify it. 

There have been some that have laid claim to this land called Nahant, and 
commcnsed suit at law with the town for it, but were cast at law, the Court 



286 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1688. 

that then was pave the town the case, justified the town's right, and never 
denied it, nor blamed them about it. 

This tract of land, it hath been divided into planting lots to the several pro- 
prietors by a vote ot^ the town, as appears in our records, Anno, 1G56, and the 
whole fenced as a common field, and the lots been improved by the proprie- 
tors, in planting, tilling, and manuring ; and afterward, by the agreement of 
the proprietors, converted into a pasture ; and so, ever since to this day im- 
proved ; so we liave by hard labor and industry subdued it, and brought it 
into so good a capacity as it is at this day, for the town's futin-e bejiefit and 
no other. 

We have honestly purchased said tract of land with om- money, of the orig- 
inal proprietors of the soil, viz. the Natives, and have firm confirmation thereof, 
under their hands and seals, according to law. 

We liave possessed and improved the said tract of land upwards of fifty 
years, for so long since it hath been built upon, inliabited by tenants paying 
their acknowledgments year after year. 

We hope arguments of tliis nature will be swaying with so rational a com- 
monwealth's man as Mr. Randolph, who hath ever pretended great respect to 
His Majesty's subjects among us, and an earnest care and desire to promote 
their welfare and prosperity. The premises considered, we believe a gentle- 
man, under such circumstances, will not be injurious, by seeking a particular 
benefit, to impoverish and disadvantage so many of His Majesty's good sub- 
jects, by seeking the alienation of such a tract of land, so eminently useful 
and needful for those proprietors now in possession of it — it being a tiling so 
consistent witli His Majesty's pleasure, that his subjects should enjoy their 
properties and flourish under his government. 

We are confident, therefore, that this Honoralile Council will be solicitous 
for the promoting our welfare, as not to suffer us to be impoverished by the 
alienation of such a considerable tract of land, as this will do, if it should be 
alienated, — yea, we are bold to say again, extremely prejudicial, if not imyjov- 
erish the body of the inhabitants of Lynn, who live not upon trafliic and trading, 
as many seaport towns do, Avho have greater advantages, but upon husbandly, 
and raising such stocks of cattle and sheep as tiiey are capable, and as their 
outlands will afford; for this, our Nahant is such a place for us as God and 
nature hath fitted and accommodated with herbage ; and likewise, tlie only 
place about us for security for our creatures from the teeth of ravening wolves ; 
which, this last summer, as well as formerly, have devoured veiy many that 
fed in other places about us, to the veiy great damage of sundry of our inhab- 
itants accordingly. Therefore, the said tract of land hath been improved by 
the proprietoi-s as a grazing field with great benefit to the body of the whole 
town, which otherwise would be exposed to great liardsliips, inconveniences, 
and difficulties, to obtain a poor living; and, therefore, we cannot but be 
deeply sensible, that, if the said pasture be alienated from us, our poor families 
will be very great sufferers, and we shall be rendered very uncai)able, either 
to provide for them, or to contribute such dues and duties to His Majesty's 
government set over us, which otherwise we might be capable of, and shall 
always readily and carefully attend unto our utmost capacity'. 

And we humbly trust, our Honorable Governor and his Honorable Council 
will show us the fivor, as in their wisdoms, to weigh and consider well our 
dutiful application to their order, to give in and show our reasons why we 
claim this said tract of land to be our right, as not to suffer any alienation of 
that which we do so much need for our great comfort and benefit ; but rather 
grant us further confirmation thereof, if need require. 

And thus we, the jiroprietors of the tract of land, even our Nahant, that is 
petitioned for, have taken notice of your Honors' order, and have, this first 
day of March, 1687-8, made clioice of a committee, to consider what is meet 
to lay before your Honors, and of messengers, to appearand present the same 
to your Excellency, our Honorable Governor, and the Honorable Council ; 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1688. 287 



which, if tliese tliiiijrs are not satisfactory, we then in humility crave the favor 
of His Excellency and iiis Honorable Council for such a trial and process as 
the law may admit of in snrh a case, wherein persons are in possession of 
lands, as we of this said tract, iiavinjj tenants tliereon ; and further time and 
opportunity hoin:,' *rranted, we doubt not but we shall produce such valid 
confirmations of our true and honest title to said tract of land, as shall be abun- 
dantly satisfactory to our lionorcd rulers, and put a period to further derates 
about it. So we rest and remain, His Majesty's most loyal subjects, and yoin- 
Excellency's and Council's most humble sei-vants, The Committee, in the 
name and behalf of the Proprietors of Nahant. 

Thomas Laughton 
Ralph King, 
John Lewis, 
Oliver Purchis, 
John Burrill, 
Edward Richards, 
John Fuller. 

It may appear strange to many, at this time, to notice the 
humble and almost al)ject demeanor of the committee, as evinced 
in the preceding address. They doubtless thought, that nothing 
would be lost by soft words ; but the spirit of freeman was at 
length roused, and ample vengeance was soon to be taken on 
the aggressors of arbitrary power. Notwithstanding the repre- 
sentations of the committee, Mr. Randolph persisted in his de- 
mand, and renewed his claim as follows. 

To His Excellence, Sir Edmund Andros, Governor. 

The humble representation of Edward Randolph, sheweth : TRat having, 
by his himible petition to your Excellence, prayed a grant of a certain tract 
of land lying in the township of Lynn, in the county of Essex, called Nahant, 
your Excellence was ])leased, by your order in Council, the third day of Feb- 
ruary last, to direct that the constables of the said town do give public notice 
to the said town, that, if any person or persons have any claim or pretence to 
the said land, they should appear before your Excellence in Council, on Wed- 
nesday, the seventh of this instant IMarch ; at which time several of the inhab- 
itants of the said town of Lynn did appear, and presented your Excellence 
with a paper, containing their several objections to the said petition. 

In answer whereunto is humbly oflfered as follows : That by their said prayer, 
it does not appear the lands petitioned for, or any part tbereof, were disposed 
of to the inhabitants of Ljmn, nor that the said town of Lynn was incorporated 
in the year 1635, nor at any time since, and so not endowed with a power of 
receiving or disposing such lands. 

That the freemen of Lynn, mentioned in the first article of their said paper, 
were not freemen of the corporation of Ljam, (as they would insinuate) but 
inhabitants only in the township, and were admitted by the General Court to 
be freemen of the Colony, with power to elect magistrates, etc., and their town 
of Lynn is equal to a village in England, and no othenvise. 

And in regard their whole paper contains nothing more material than what 
is expressed in their first article, the petitioner hath nothing further to offer, 
than to pray your Excellence's grant according to his petition. All which is 
humbly submitted. 

Ed. Randolph. 

On the reception of this petition, the people of Lynn held 
another meeting, and addressed the Governor as follows. 



288 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1688. 

To His Excellency, Sir Edmund Andros, Knigrht, our Honorable Governor, 
Captain-General of His Majesty's Territory and Dominion in New England, 
the humble address of the iniiabitants of Lynn is humbly offered. 

We, whose names are subscribed, having, by the favor of your Excellency, 
good information of the endeavors of some to seek the alienation of a tract of 
land from us, called the Nahants, containing about four or five hundred acres, 
which will prove extremely prejudicial and injurious to the body of His Ma- 
jesty's subjects among us ; it being a tract of land honorably purchased of tlie 
natives, the original proprietors of the soil, and possessed by our predecessors 
and ourselves near upon sixty years, and to this day. We have also renewed 
confirmations of the tract of land by firm deed from the successors of the 
ancient proprietors, the natives; having also been at great cost and charges, 
and hard labor for the subduing of the said land, to bring it into so good a 
capacity as it is in at this day ; having also defended our right to this tract of 
land as well as others possessed by us, by blood and the loss of many lives, 
both formerly, and especially in the late engagments, with the baibarous 
pagans. The said tract of land having been built upon, also, and inhabited 
upwards of fifty years. It hath been ploughed, planted, tilled, and manured, 
and fenced in ; the fence remaining to this very day, only wanting reparation ; 
none ever, to this day, from the first settlement of our plantation — called 
formerly by the name of Saugus — dispossessing of us; but we have main- 
tained our position and I'ight, which hath been owned and defended by His 
Majesty's former government set over us. The said tract of land being also 
eminently beneficial arfd needful for the support of our inhabitants ; it being 
improved for a grazing field for our sheep, and such other useful creatures as 
can scarcely be preserved from the ravening wolves. 

Therefore, we are sensible, that, by the alienation of such a tract of land 
from us, so circumstanced, many of His Majesty's good subjects — our honest, 
innocent neighbors — will be ex'posed to great sufferings and hardshi[)s, and 
we all rendered incapable to contribute such dues and duties to His Majesty's 
government set over us, as is our bounden duty, and which we shall always 
readily attend, knowing how consistent it is with His Majesty's pleasure, and 
how well pleasing to your Excellency, that we live and prosper under your 
government. 

We request your Excellency, therefore, to condescend to cast a favorable 
aspect upon the premises, and that our mean and shattered condition may not 
induce your contempt, but rather obtain your pity and succor. And, therefore, 
we confide in your Excellency's favor for our encouraging answer to this oui* 
petition, which is for the further and futm-e enjoying of our Nahants. 

By your Excellency's fatherly and compassionate grant of such a patent for 
fmther confirmation thereof unto oui'selves and heirs forever, upon a moderate 
acknowledgment to be paid to His Royal Majestj', as may be consistent with 
your Excellency's prudence, and most conducive to our best behoof and ben- 
efit, and so that we may live and prosper under your government, that we may 
have tranquillity under the same from henceforth. 

The second day of April, Anno Dommi, One Thousand Six Huudi-ed Eighty 
and Eight. Annoqui Regni Regis Jacobi Secimdi Quarto. 

The above petition was signed by seventy-four inhabitants, 
and, with the preceding papers, are preserved in the Massachu- 
setts archives. Their interesting nature has induced me to 
give them entire. I have only corrected the spelling. 

The revenge which had been burning in the breasts of the 
eastern Indians for twelve years, for their friends killed and 
sold into slavery in 1676, this year broke out into open war. 
Their animosity was increased by the instigation of Baron de St. 



ANNALS OP LTNN — 1689. 289 

Castlne, a Frenchman, who married a daughter of Madockawan- 
do, the Penobscot chief. His house had been plundered by 
Sir Edmund Andros, the Governor of Massachusetts, and this 
induced him to join with the Indians. The French of Canada 
also united with them in their depredations, which were contin- 
ued, with intervals, till 1698, under the appellation of Castine's 
war. A company of soldiers from Lynn were impressed, by 
order of the Governor, and sent out against the Indians in the 
depth of winter. One of the soldiers from Lynn, Mr. Joseph 
Ramsdell, was killed by them at Casco Bay, in 1690. 

1689. 

The assumptions of Andros and his lordly secretary, as may 
well be supposed, gave great offence to the people of Lynn, and 
there seems to have been no other general topic of conversation 
for several years. At length the spirit of the people was roused 
to such a degree, that, on the 19th of April, the inhabitants of 
Boston rose in arms, wrested the power from Sir Edmund and 
confined him a prisoner on Fort Hill until he was sent back to 
England. 

The people of Lynn, who had not only been injured, but even 
insulted by Governor Andros, united with some from other 
towns, and went up to Boston, under the command of Rev. Jer- 
emiah Shepard, the minister of Lynn. A writer who was pres- 
ent says: ''April 19th, about 11 o'clock, the country came in, 
headed by one Shepard, teacher of Lynn, who were like so 
many wild bears ; and the leader, mad with passion, more sav- 
age than any of his followers. All the cry was for the Governor 
and Mr. Randolph." The Lynn people were doubtless some- 
what excited, but it may be noted, that the above account 
of their conduct was written by a friend of Governor Andros. 
[Mr. Lewis states, in a note, that this interesting passage was 
copied from a manuscript Account of the Insurrection, among 
the papers of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Lambeth 
Palace, at London, and that it was probably written by Ran- 
dolph himself] 

In the exigency of public affairs, town meetings were held, 
and a Committee of Safety for the county of Essex appointed, 
with directions to make a report of grievances, to be laid before 
the government. The people of Lynn made the following rep- 
resentation. 

At Lynn, the 24th of May, 1689, upon a signification from Captain Jonathan 
Cormu, of the Committee of the County of Essex, to make inqnii-y into the 
grievances suffered under the late government, that it is expressed, that this 
town, or any inhabit£uits therein, that have been aggrieved or buitliened, do 
manifest the same under their liand, to the Committee aforesaid, or to Captain 
Jonathan Corwin to make known the same. We the Committee chosen by 

Y 19 



290 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1689. 

the inhabitants of Lj-nn, on the 20th of May, ICiiD, to consider of the significa- 
tion abovesaid, and to di-aw up what grievancf^H hnd burdens we have sustained 
by the late government, &c., do declare, viz. Ihut this poor town of Lynn have 
sustained great wrong and damage by the said late government ; in tliat our 
orderly, honest, and just rights, in a tract of land within the bounds of Lynn, 
called Nahants, that hath been enjoyed, possessed, built upon, and improved, 
by fencing, planting, and pasturing, &c., by the township of Lyan, well onward 
to sixty years; and yet, by the injurious, unjust, and covetous humors of some 
very ill minded persons, upon petitions preferred — as Mr. Randolph first, and 
Mai-y Dafliu, of Boston, in the second place, when Mr. Randolph could not 
make his petition true and valid, then he throweth in Maiy Dafiin her petition 
for the same lands, and as unjustly founded as Mr. Randolph's. But on their 
two petitions and vain pretences, we, the poor people of Lynn, have been, by 
orders from the Governor and Council, called, summoned, and ordered to 
appear at Boston, and to show and make good title to said lands before Sir 
Edmund Andros, and his Council, at one sitting, and a second sitting, and so 
a third, and a fourth, to our great loss, and expense of time and moneys, and 
no ailvantage nor benefit to us, because of delays and procrastinations, to screw 
our moneys out of our hands, and to make us pay, with a vengeance, for such 
writmgs as we must be constrained to take forth. And thus we have been 
grieved and oppressed, and put to loss, cost and damage, near one hundred 
pounds, and never the better, no justice done us, and at last put upon a threat- 
ened necessity of patenting our own old enjoyed properties, and a denial of 
our rights in any of our commons, always enjoyed, but now called King's lands, 
and we denied to be any town. Thus we have been perplexed, vexed, and 
oppressed, and impoverished ; and except the Lord had wrought for us, whose 
name we bless, and give thanks to the worthy gentlemen, his instruments, we 
had been the worst of bondmen. Furthermore, we were debarred, by the late 
government, of our constant liberty of town meetings but once in a year, 
whereby we could not meet to consult of defending our rights in the premises, 
because it should be charged with riot ; and also of keeping a watch for our 
security from any dangers we had too just cause to fear, which was our great 
grief and burthen ; and our abuses by the profane fai-mers of excise ; and our 
sons, neighbors, and servants impressed and sent out so remote in the winter 
season, and constrained hereunto, and all suflFerings, and we understand not 
upon what grounds. 

Per order of, or in the name of the Town and Committee. 

Oliver Purchis, Cleric. 

Jeremiah Shepard, aged forty-two years, and John Burrill, aged fifty-seven 
years, we, whose names are subscribed, being chosen by the iuliabitants of 
Lynn, in the Massachusetts Colony, in New England, to maintain their right 
to their pr-^perties and lands, invaded by Sir Edmund Andros's government, 
we do testify, that, (besides Sir Edmund Andros his unreasonable demands 
of monej% by way of taxation, and that without an assembly and deputies, 
sent from our towns, according to ancient custom, for the raising of money 
and levying of rates, ) our properties, our honest, and just, and true titles to 
our land were also invaded ; and particularly a great and considerable tract 
of land, called by the name of the Nahants, the only secure place for the graz- 
ing of some thousands of our sheep, and without which our inhabitants could 
neither provide for their families, nor be cajjacitated to pay dues or duties for 
the maintenance of the public, but, if dispossessed of, the town m"ust needs 
be impoverished, ruined, and rendered miserable. Yet this very tract of land, 
being petitioned for by Edward Randolph, was threatened to be rent out of 
our hands, notwithstanding our honest and just pleas for our right to the said 
land, both by alienation of the said land to us by the original proprietors, the 
natives, to whom we paid our moneys by way of purchase, and notwithstand- 
ing near sixty years peaceable and quiet possescion, and improvement, and also 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1690. 291 

enclosure of the said land by a stone wall ; in which tract of land, also, two 
of our patentees were interested in connnon with us, viz. Major Humfrey and 
Mr. Johnson ; yet Edward Randolph petitioning for the said land, Sir Edmund, 
the Governor, did so far comply with liis unreasonable motion, that we were 
put to great charges and expense for the vindication of our honest rights 
thereto. And being often before the Governor, Sir Edmund, and his Council, 
for relief, yet could find no favor of our innocent cause by Sir Edmund ; not- 
withstanding our pleas of purchase, ancient possession, enclosure, grant of 
General Court, and our necessitous condition ; yet he told us that all these 
pleas were insignificant, and we could have no true title, until we could prove 
a patent from the king ; neither had any person a riglit to one foot of land in 
New England, by virtue of purchase, possession, or grant of Court; but if we 
would have assurance of our lands, we must go to the king for it, and get patents 
of it. Finding no relief, (and the Governor having prohibited town meetings,) 
we earnestly desired liberty for our town to meet to cousult what to do in so 
difficult a case and exigency, but could not prevail ; Sir Edmund angrily telling 
us, that there was no such thing as a town in the country ; neither should we 
have liberty so to meet; neither were our ancient records, as he said, which 
we produced for our vindication of our title to the said lands, worth a rush. 
Thus were we from time to time unreasonably treated, our properties, and 
civil liberties, and privileges invaded, our misery and ruin thre/itened and 
hastened, till such time as our country, groaning under the unreasonable 
heavj^ yoke of Sir Edmund's government, were constrained forcibly to recover 
oui- rights and privileges. 

Jeremiah Shepard, 
John Burrill. 

[Robert Driver petitions the Court that his son Solomon, who 
had been impressed, may be released, as some others had been, 
'' as the life of his wife Sarah is bound up in her son Solomon." 
There is no record of the Court's answer. 

[Capt. Ralph King died this year. He was a man of prom- 
inence and usefulness. He left an estate quite considerable for 
the time, the appraisal showing in amount X2.365 4s. Rev. Mr. 
Shepard, William Bassett, senior, and John Ballard were ap- 
praisers.] 

1690. 

The third inhabitant of Nahant, and the first permanent one, 
was James Mills. He had a small cottage, which stood in the 
field a few rods southeast from "Whitney's hotel, wherein he 
resided twenty-six years. He had three children ; Sarah, born 
27 February, 1675; James, b. 11 October, 1678; and Dorothy, 
b. 21 April, 1681. A bay on the south of Nahant having been 
her favorite bathing place, has received the name of Dorothy's 
cove. 

The first Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, in Lynn, 
was held at the house of Samuel Collins, on the 18th of July. 
There were but five Lynn men present. 

[The first paper money of Massachusetts was issued this year. 
There was an emission of 40.000 pounds, to defray the charges 
of the Canada expedition.] 



292 ANNALS OF LYNN— 1691, 1692. 



1691. 

Lieutenant John Burrill was chosen Representative " to the 
great and generall Court." The pay of a Representative was 
three shillings a day. 

Mr. John Burrill, junior, was chosen Town Clerk, in which 
office he continued thirty years. 

April 14. " Clement Coldam and Joseph Hart were chosen 
cannoners, to order and look after the great guns." 

July 13. Lieutenant John Fuller was chosen Clerk of the 
Writs. It is thus evident, that this office was not the same as 
that of Town Clerk. 

On the northern shore of Nahant is a ledge of rock, which 
contains a portion of iron. Some of it was smelted in the foun- 
dry at Saugus, and more was taken for the forge at Braintree. 
" It was voted that Mr. Hubbard of Braintree, should give three 
shillings for every ton of Rock Mine that he has from Nahant, 
to the town, for the town's use, and he to have so much as the 
town sees convenient." 

Mr. William Bassett was Quarter Master in the militia, and 
collector of the parish taxes. People who held offices were 
generally better known by their titles than by their first names. 
[The titles were used partly to distinguish persons of the same 
name, middle names not being then in use.] 

December 21. At a meeting of the Selectmen, " Mr. Shepard, 
with his consent, was chosen Schoolmaster for the year ensu- 
ing." (Town Records.) 

1692. 

January 8. "It was voted that Lieutenant Blighe should 
have liberty to set up a pew in the northeast corner of the 
meeting house, by Mr. King's pew, and he to maintain the win- 
dows against it. 

" The town did vote, that Lieutenant Fuller, Lieutenant Lewis, 
Mr. John Hawkes, senior, Francis Burrill, Lieutenant Burrill, 
John Burrill, junior, Mr. Henry Rhodes, Quarter Master Bassett, 
Mr. Haberfield, Cornet Johnson, Mr. Bayley, and Lieutenant 
Blighe, should sit at the table. 

" It was voted, that Matthew Farrington, senior, Henry 
>/ Silsbee, and Joseph Mansfield, senior, should sit in the deacons' 
seat. 

" It was voted, that Thomas Farrar, senior, Crispus Brewer, 
Allen Breed, senior, Clement Coldam, Robert Rand, senior, 
Jonathan Hudson, Richard Hood, senior, and Sergeant Haven, 
should sit in the pulpit. 

" The town voted, that them that are surviving, that was 
chosen by the town a committee to erect the meeting-house, 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1G92. 293 

and Clerk Potter to join along with them, should seat the in- 
habitants of the town in the meeting-house, both men and wo- 
men, and appoint what seats they shall sit in ; but it is to be 
understood, that they are not to seat neither the table, nor the 
deacons' seat, nor the pulpit, but them to sit there as are voted 
by the town. 

" The town voted that Mr. Shepard should have liberty to 
remove Mr. Shepard's pew, and to set it adjoining at the east- 
ward end of the pulpit." 

Lieutenant John Lewis, Cornet Samuel Johnson, John Witt, 
Joseph Breed, Thomas Farrar, junior, Joseph Newhall, and 
John Burrill, junior, were chosen Selectmen, "to order the pru- 
dential affairs of the town." These were the first Selectmen 
of Lynn whose names are recorded in the town book. 

" The town voted, that the persons undernamed, in answer to 
their petition, should have liberty of the hindmost seat in the 
gallery to sit in, and fit it up as well as they please, in the north- 
east corner, provided they do no damage in hindering the light 
of the window : Sarah Hutchins, Mary Newhall, Rebecca Bal- 
lard, Susanna Collins, Rebecca Collins, Ruth Potter, Jane Ballard, 
Sarah Farrington, Rebecca Newhall, Elizabeth Norwood, Mary 
Haberfield." (Town Records.) 

The year 1692 has been rendered memorable in the annals of 
our country, by the great excitement and distress occasioned by 
imputed Witchcraft. It was an awful time for New England — 
superstition was abroad in her darkest habiliments, scourging the 
land, and no one but trembled before the breath of the destroyer, 
for no one was safe. It seemed as if a legion of the spirits of 
darkness had been set free from their prison house, with power 
to infect the judgment of the rulers, and to sport, in their wan- 
ton malice, with the happiness and the lives of the people. The 
stories of necromancy in the darkest ages of the world — the 
tales of eastern genii — the imaginary delineations of the poet 
and the romancer — wild, and vague, and horrible as they may 
seem — fall far short of the terrible realities, which were per- 
formed in the open daylight of New England. The mother at 
midnight pressed her unconscious children to her trembling 
bosom — and the next day she was standing before a court of 
awful men, with her life suspended on the breath of imagina- 
tion — or barred within the walls of a prison, and guarded by 
?an armed man, as if she were a thing to be feared — or swinging 
' in the breeze between earth and sky, with thousands of faces 
gazing up at her, with commingled expressions of pity and im- 
precation. The father, too, returned from his work at eve, to 
his peaceful household — and in the morning he was lying ex- 
tended on a rough plank — with a heavy weight pressing on 
bis breast — till his tongue had started from his mouth — and 



294 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1692. 

his soul had gone up to Him who gave it — and all this, that he 
might be made to confess an imaginary crime. 

The alarm of witchcraft commenced in February, in the house 
of Rev. Samuel Parris, of Salem, with an Indian girl named 
Tituba. Thirteen women and five men were hung, and two. 
Rev. George Burroughs and Giles Corey, pressed to death, be- 
cause they would not answer or confess. More than one hun- 
dred others were accused and imprisoned, of whom the following 
belonged to Lynn : 

1. Thomas Farrar was brought before the court, at Salem, 
18 May, and sent to prison at Boston, where he was kept until 
2 November, more that five months. He was an elderly man, 
and his son, Thomas Farrar, jun., was one of the selectmen 
this year. He lived in Nahant street, and died 23 February, 
1694. 

2. Sarah Bassett was tried at Salem, May 23, and sent to 
Boston prison, where she was kept until December 3, seven 
months. She was a daughter of Richard Hood, and wife of 
WiUiam Bassett, jun., in Nahant street. She had a young child, 
twenty-two months old, which she took with her to prison. The 
next daughter which she had after her imprisonment, she called 
" Deliverance.'" 

3. Mary Derick, widow of Michael Derick, was carried to 
Boston prison, May 23, and kept there seven months. She was 
a daughter of William Bassett, senior. 

4. Elizabeth Hart was arraigned and sent to Boston, May 
18, where she was imprisoned until December 7 ; nearly seven 
mouths. • She was an old lady, the wife of Isaac Hart, and died 
November 28, 1700. 

5. Thomas Hart, son of Elizabeth Hart, in a petition to the 
Court, October 19, says " he has been in prison ever since May, 
for imputed witchcraft, and prays to be released." 

[Mr. Lewis must be in error in this last paragraph. " Thomas 
Hart, inhabitant at Lynn," presents a petition, on the 19th of Oc- 
tober, shewing ''that whereas Elizabeth Hart, mother of the 
petitioner, was taken into custody in the latter end of May last, 
and ever since committed to prison in Boston jail, for witchcraft," 
&c. The petition among other things says: "The father of 
your petitioner, being ancient and decrepit, was wholly unable 
to attend to this matter, and yo«r petitioner, having lived from 
his childhood under the same roof with his said mother, he dare 
presume to affirm that he never saw nor knew any ill or sinful 
practice wherein there was any shew of impiety nor witchcraft 
by her." And with strong expressions of filial regard, he begs 
for her " speedy inlargement." The petition refers altogether 
to his mother, not to himself. Not a hint is dropped of his ever 
having been imprisoned. The petition indicates a pious turn of 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1692. | 295 

mind, and one not exempt from the common superstitions of the 
time ; but anxiety about hi^ mother seems to predominate.] 

6. Sarah Cole, the wife of John Cole, was tried at Charles- 
town, 1 February, 1693, and acquitted. 

7. Elizabeth Proctor, wife of John Proctor, of Danvers, was 
a daughter of William Bassett. She was condemned to death, 
but was released on account of her peculiar circumstances. Her 
husband was executed. 

That aged people, as some of those were, and respectable, as 
they all were, should have been subjected to long imprisonment 
and the danger of death, on the accusation of a few hoyden 
girls, of uncertain reputation, influenced by wild malice, or a 
distempered imagination, is a matter which now excites our 
wonder and pity. My readers will doubtless be anxious to 
know what was said about the accused from Lynn. It is really 
too trifling for a serious record, and only merits notice for its 
consequences. 

The following is the testimony against Thomas Farrar. '' The 
deposition of Ann Putnam, who testifieth and saith, that ou 
the 8th of May, 1692, there appeared to me the apperishion of 
an old grcly head man, with a gi'eat nose, which tortored me, and 
almost choaked me, and urged me to writ in his book ; and I 
asked him what was his name, and from whence he came, for I 
would complain of him ; and people used to call him old father 
pharaoh ; and he said he was my grandfather, for my fother 
used to call him father; but I tould him I would not call him 
grandfather, for he was a wizard, and I would complain of him ; 
and ever since he hath afflicted me by times, beating me, and 
pinching me, and allmost choaking me, and urging me contine- 
wally to writ in his book." 

The testimony against Elizabeth Hart was as follows : " The 
deposition of Mary Walcott, who testifieth and saith, that on 
the loth of Maj',, 1692, I saw the apparition of Goody Hart, who 
hurt me much by pinching and choaking of me ; and urged mo 
grievously to set my hand to Uer book, smd several other times 
she has tormented me, ready to tare my body in pieces." 

There were several other depositions, but these were the most 
important; yet on evidence like this, respectable people were 
taken from their homes, and imprisoned more than half a year. 
It is some satisfaction to know, that some of the judges and ju- 
rymen afterward saw their error and regretted it. Some resti- 
tution was also made, by the Court, to some of the sufferers. 
Mary Derick was allowed <£9, being at the rate of six shillings 
a week during her imprisonment, and £5, for her goods lost; 
and Sarah Bassett was also allowed £9. 

The first thing that opened the eyes of the prosecutors, and 
tended to put a stop to accusations, was the "crying out" 



296 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1694. 

against the Rev. Jereniiah Sbepard, minister of the church at 
Lynn, as a wizard ! Every body saw the absurdity of the charge, 
and the court were convinced that if the matter proceeded much 
further, themselves might not be safe. [But this unduly mag- 
nifies Mr. Sbepard. A number of eminent persons were " cried 
out " against ; among them, the wife of Gov. Phipps and the 
wife of Rev. Mr. Hale. And are those free discussions on the 
dark subject, entered into by the intelligent young men of Bos- 
ton, as well as the exertions of such men as Bradstreet, Brattle, 
Galef, Danforth — who, by the way, had been Deputy Governor, 
and was father-in-law of Rev. Joseph Whiting — and Saltonstall, 
to pass for nought? It should not be overlooked that the 
leaven of truth and good sense had begun to actively work 
among all classes.] 

In reflecting on this subject, it should be remembered, that 
people at that time generally believed in witchcraft. It was 
part of their religion, and under such a misconception of scrip- 
ture, the slightest indications were proof. The more absurd, 
improbable and even impossible a thing was, the more certain 
it appeared — for many people very wisely conclude, that no 
one would assert an impossibility, unless it were true ! We 
wonder at the delusion of those days — but is there no mist 
before our eyes at present ? 

1694. 

The society of Friends having increased, Mr. Sbepard became 
alarmed at their progress, and appointed the 19th of July, as a 
day of fasting and prayer, " that the spirital plague might pro- 
ceed no further." [And the versatile Mather says, " The spirit 
of our Lord Jesus Christ gave a remarkable effect unto this 
holy method of encountering the charms of Quakerism. It 
proved a better method than any coercion of the civil magis- 
trate." This is very well. And if he himself had adhered to 
the principle he would doubtless have been the instrument of 
more good than is now placed to his credit. But with amusing 
credulity he adds: "Quakerism in Lynn received, as I am 
informed, a death wound from that very day : and the number 
of Quakers in that place has been so far from increasing, that I 
am told it has rather decreased notably."] 

At a town meeting on the 25th of July, "The constables 
personally appearing, and declaring that they had all warned 
their several parts of the town, according to their warrants, 
and so many being absent from said meeting, the town did then 
vote and give power to Jacob Knight, in behalf of the town, to 
prosecute against any and every person or persons, that has 
not attended this meeting, according to the by laws, or town 
orders." 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1G95, 1696. 297 

The practice prevailed, for mauy years, of warning out of the 
town, by a formal mandamus of the selectmen, every family and 
individual, rich or poor, who came into it. This was done to 
exonerate the town from any obligation to render support in 
case of poverty. One old gentleman, who had just arrived in 
town, to whom this order was read, took it for a real intimation 
to depart. " Come, wife," he says, " we must pack up. But 
there — we have one consolation for it — it is not so desirable 
a place." 

1695. 

The property of the Nahants, which had been a cause of 
contention from the first settlement of the town, was this year 
claimed by the heiresses of Richard Woody, of Boston; into 
whose claim they probably descended by a mortgage of one 
of the sagamores, in 1652. At a town meeting, on the 18th 
of October, '• There being a summons read, wherein was signi- 
fied that the lands called Nahants were attached by Mrs. Mary 
Daffern, of Boston, and James Mills summoned to answer said 
Daffern at an inferior court, to be holden in the county of Essex, 
on the last Tuesday of December, 1695 ; the town did then 
choose Lieutenant Samuel Johnson, Joseph Breed, and John 
Burrill, junior, to defend the interests of the town in the lands 
called Nahants, and to employ an attorney or attorneys, as they 
shall see cause, in the town's behalf, against the said Daffern, 
and so from court to court, till the cause be ended — they or 
either of them — and the town to bear the charge." 

The following is transcribed from the records of the Quarterly 
Court, December 31. " Mrs. Mary Daffern and Mrs. Martha Padis- 
hah, widows, and heiresses of Richard Woody, late of Boston, 
deceased, plaintiffs, versus John Atwill junior, of Lynn, in an 
action of trespass upon the case, <fec., according to writ, dated 
30th September, 1695. The plaintiffs being called three times, 
made default and are nonsuited. The judgment of the court is, 
that plaintiffs pay unto the defendants costs." This is the last 
we hear of any claim made upon the Nahants, as individual 
property. 

1696. 

January 13. " The Selectmen did agree with Mr. [Abraham] 
Normenton to be schoolmaster for the town, for the year ensuing, 
and the town to give him five pounds for his labor; and the 
town is to pay twentyfive shillings towards the hire of Nathan- 
iel Newhall's house to keep school in, and the said Mr. Nor- 
menton to hire the said house." 

Immense numbers of great clams were thrown upon the 
beaches by storms. The people were permitted by a vote of 



298 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1697. 

the town, to dig and gather as many as they wished for their 
own use, but no more ; and no person was allowed to carry any 
out of the town, on a penalty of twenty shillings. The shells 
were gathered in cart loads on the beach, and manufactured 
into lime. 

This year, two Quakers, whose names were Thomas Farrar 
and John Hood, for refusing to pay parish taxes, suffered nearly 
one month's imprisonment at Salem. 

The winter of this year was the coldest since the first settle- 
ment of New England. [During the latter part of February, 
the roads had become so obstructed by snow and ice that travel 
was suspended.] 

1697. 

On the 8th of January, the town, by vote, set the prices of 
provisions, to pay Mr. Shepard's salary, as follows: beef, 3d. ; 
pork, 4d. a pound. Indian corn, 5s. ; barley, barley malt, and 
rye, 5s. 6d. ; and oats, 2s. a bushel. 

The blackbirds had to keep a bright look out this year, as 
the whole town were in arms against them. The town voted, 
March 8, " that every householder in the town, should, some 
time before the fifteenth day of May next, kill or cause to be 
killed, twelve blackbirds, and bring the heads of them, at or 
before the time aforesaid, to Ebenezer Stocker's, or Samuel 
Collins's, or Thomas Burrage's, or John Gowing's, who are 
appointed and chose by the town to receive and take account 
of the same, and take care this order be duly prosecuted ; and 
if any householder as aforesaid shall refuse or neglect to kill 
and bring in the heads of twelve blackbirds, as aforesaid, every 
such person shall pay three pence for every blackbird that is 
wanting as aforesaid, for the use of the town." 

[The small pox made its appearance in Lynn, in the spring 
of this y^ar to the great alarm of many people. Samuel Mans- 
field died of it, 10 April. 

[There was a " sore and long continued drought," in the 
summer. And the season was one peculiarly fatal to farm stock 
of all kinds. The winter was very severe, and the ground was 
covered with snow from the first of December till the middle 
of March. In February, the snow was three and a half feet 
deep, on a level. 

[For the purpose of giving an idea of the facilities for inter- 
communication, at this time, the following extract from a letter 
dated in February, is introduced. The letter was from Jonathan 
Dickenson, at Philadelphia, to William Smith. " In 14 days we 
have an answer from Boston; once a week from New York; 
once in three weeks from Maryland ; and once in a month from 
Virginia."] 



ANNALS OF LYNN— 1698, 1699, 1700. 299 



1698. 

On the 4th of January, Oliver Elkins and Thomas Darling 
killed a wolf in Lynn woods. On the 28th of February, Thomas 
Baker killed two wolves. This year also, James Mills killed 
five foxes on Nahant. Twenty shillings were allowed by the 
town for killing a Avolf, and two shillings for a fox. 

The town ordered that no person should cut more than seven 
trees on Nahant, under a penalty of forty shillings for each tree 
exceeding that number. 

June 1. The Court enacted "that no person using or occu- 
pying the feat or mystery of a butcher, currier, or shoemaker, 
by himself, or any other, shall use or exercise the feat or mys- 
tery of a Tanner, on pain of the forfeiture of six shillings and 
eight pence for every hide or skin so tanned." They also en- 
acted that no tanner should exercise the business of a butcher, 
currier, or shoemaker. " And no butcher shall gash or cut any 
hide, whereby the same shall be impaired, on pain of forfeiting 
twelve pence for every gash or cut." It was also enacted that 
no " shoemaker or cordwainer shall work into Shoes, Boots, or 
other wares, any leather that is not tanned and curried as 
aforesaid ; nor shall use any leather made of horse's hide for 
the inner sole of any such shoes or boots on pain of forfeiting 
all such shoes and boots." 

1699. 

The platform of the meeting-house was covered with lead. 
The bell was taken down and sent to England to be exchanged 
for a new one. Mr. Shepard's salary was reduced to sixty 
pounds. 

On the 7th of November, the town ordered that any person 
who should follow the wild fowl in the harbor, in a canoe, to 
shoot at them, or frighten them, should pay twenty shillings; 
and Thomas Lewis and Timothy Breed were chosen to enforce 
the order. 

1700. 

On the 25th of May, Mr. John Witt killed a wolf [The town 
paid Timothy Breed two shillings "for killing of one ffox at 
nahant." 

[Dr. John Caspar Richter van Crowninscheldt, bought of Eliz- 
beth Allen, wife of Jacob Allen, of Salem, 20 June, twenty acres 
of land " neer a certain pond called the Spring Pond, with all 
the houses, buildings, waters, fishings," &c. The land appears 
to have previously belonged to John Clifford. The oldest 
grave stone in the burying ground near the west end of Lynn 
Common, bears this inscription : " Here lyeth y^ body of lohn 



/ 



300 ANNALS OF LYNN— 1701, 1702. 

Clifford. Died lune y« 17, 1698, in r 68 year of his age." It 
is on the west of the foot path leading from the front entrance, 
and, unlike the other old stones, faces the east. The 9 in the 
date has been altered, in a rough way, so as to resemble a 2, and 
hence some have been deceived into the belief that there was a 
burial here as early as 1628. Mr. Lewis declared the alteration 
to have been made in 1806, by a pupil at Lynn Academy. This 
John Clifford appears to have been the same individual who 
owned lands in the vicinity of Mineral Spring. He was made 
a freeman in 1678, and is sometimes called of Salem; which 
would be natural enough if he lived any where about Spring 
Pond. I think he married Elizabeth Richardson, perhaps as a 
second wife, 28 September, 1688, he being then some fifty-eight 
years of age. Mr. Lewis states that Dr. Crowninscheldt built a 
cottage at Mineral Spring about the year 1690. And in Felt's 
Annals of Salem, under date 1695, we find the following: " This 
year Richard Harris, master of the Salem Packet, bound to 
Canada river, invites ' Doct. Grouncell (Crowninshield,) a Ger- 
man, who married Capt. Allen's daughter at Lynn Spring,' to 
accompany him, but he declined." Could it have been of his 
mother-in-law, that the Doctor purchased the laud, in 1700? 
At first view, there seems something hke confusion in the above: 
but I do not see that the statements are irreconcilable.] 

At a meeting of the Selectmen, on the 7th of June, Mr. Shepard 
was chosen to keep a grammar school, for which thirty pounds 
were the next year allowed. 

1701. 

[Henry Sharp, innholder, of Salem, let his carriage, a calash, 
for the conveying of Mr. Bulkley, who had arrived at that place, 
sick, to his home. But as he could get no farther on his jour- 
ney than Lynn, he here dismissed the driver, who returned to 
Salem on Sunday. For the desecration of holy time Mr. Sharp 
was caUed to answer, but was finally discharged by making it 
appear that the travel was necessary. This calash is noted as 
being one of the first carriages ever owned in the vicinity. On 
horse-back or a-foot our forefathers and mothers almost exclu- 
sively traveled, down to a period something later than this. 
The above incident well shows the solicitude with which the 
sanctity of the Lord's day continued to be guarded.] 

1702. 

[Rev, George Keith, a missionary of the Church of England, 
visited Lynn, in July, accompanied by Rev. John Talbot, also a 
Church minister. He appears to have come rather to combat 
Quaker principles than to propagate his own. He had himself 
been a Quaker and suffered persecution for his faith. But now 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1702. 301 

that he appeared as a champion against them, he seems to have 
divested himself of at least the pacific characteristic that dis- 
tinguishes the Quaker of this day. In his journal appears the 
following account of the transactions on the occasion of his 
visit. The entries are made under dates Wednesday and Thurs- 
day, July 8 and 9. 

I went from Boston to Liun, accompanied with Mr. Talbot, and the next day 
being the Quakers' meeting d.iy, we visited their meeting tliere, having first 
called at a Quaker's house, who was of my former acquaintance. Mr. Shep- 
ard, the minister of Linn, did also accompany us; but the Quakers, tliough 
many of tliem had been formerly members of his chm-ch, were very abusive 
to him, as they were to us. After some time of silence I stood up and began 
to speak, but they did so interrupt with their noise and clamor against me, 
that I could not proceed, tliough I much entreated them to hear me ; so I sat 
down and heard their speakers one after another utter abundance of falsehoods 
and impertenances and gross perversions of many texts of the holy Scripture. 
After their speakers had done, they hasted to be gone. I desired them to stay, 
and I would shew them that they had spoke many falselioods, and perverted 
many places of Scripture, but they would not stay to hear. But many of the 
people staid, some of them Quakers, and others who were not Quakers but 
disaffected to the Quakers' principles. I asked one of their preachers before 
he went away, seeing they preached so much the sufficiency of the Light 
within to salvation, (without aviy thing else) did the Light within teach him, 
without Scripture, that our blessed Saviour was born of a virgin, and died for 
our sins, &c. ? He replyed, if he said it did, I would not believe him, and 
therefore he would not answer me. After then* speakers were gone, I went 
up into the speakers' gallery, where they used to stand and speak, and I did 
read unto the people that staid to hear me, Quakers and others, many quota- 
tions out of Edw. Burroughs's folio book, detecting his vile errors, who yet 
was one of their chief authors, particularly in pages 150, 151, where he renders 
it the doctrine of salvation that 's only necessary to be preached, viz. Christ 
within, and that he ts a deceiver that exhorts people for salvation to any other 
thing than the Light within ; as appears by his several queries in the pages 
cited. And where he saith, page 273, that the sufferings of the people of God 
in this age [meaning the Quakers] are greater sufferings, and more unjust, than 
those of Christ and the Ajjostles ; what was done to Christ, or to the Apostles, 
was chiefly done by a law, and in great part by the due execution of a law. 
But all this a noted Quaker, whose name I spare to mention, (as I generally 
intend to spare the mentioning of their names) did boldly defend. But another 
Quaker who stood by, confessed the last passage in i-endering the Quakers' 
sufferings greater and more unjust than the sufferings of Christ, was not well 
worded ; but to excuse it, said, we must not make a man an offender for a 
word. 

[John Richardson, a noted Quaker preacher, from England, 
was then in Lynn, stopping at the house of Samuel Collins, 
which stood on the north side of Essex street, a few rods east 
of Fayette. He vigorously engaged Mr. Keith, and gives an 
account of the meeting not exactly coincident with the above. 
It is but fair to give his version. But we shall first quote from 
his recital of an encounter the evening before. He says: 

... I came to Lynn, to Samuel Callings, [Collins's] where I had not been 
long before I met with an unusual exercise, which I had expected for some 
time would fall upon me. . . . Having heard of George Keith's intention of 

z 



302 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1702. 



being at Lynn Monthly Meeting the next day, (this Lynn, as near as I remem- 
ber lies between Salem in the east pai-t and Boston,) the evening coming on, 
as I was writing to some friends in Old England, one came in haste to desire 
nie to come down, for George Keith was come to the door, and a great number 
of people and a priest with him, and was railing against Friends exceedingly. 
I said, Liasmuch as I understood this L}iin Meeting is, although large, mostly 
a newly convinced people, I advise you to be swift to hear, but slow to speak, 
for George Keith hath a life in argument ; and let us, as a people, seek unto 
and cry mightily to the Lord, to look down upon us, and help us for his name's 
sake, for our preservation, that none may be hurt. . . . T went to the rails and 
leaned my arms on them, near to George Keith's horse's head, as he sat on hia 
back, and many people were with him ; but the few Friends who were come, 
stood with me in the yard. 

[A warm discussion between the champions, followed this 
abrupt introduction, concerning which Mr. Eichardson, with a 
triumphal air, says : 

I was roused up in my spirit in a holy zeal against his wicked insults and 
great threatenings, and said to him, that it was the fruit of malice and envy, 
and that he was to us but as an heathen man and a publican. . . . Then he 
began to cast what slurs and odiums he could upon Friends, with such bitter 
invectives as his malice could invent. I stood with an attentive ear, and a watch- 
ful mind; for as I stood leaning upon the rails, with no small concern upon 
my mind, I felt tlie Lord's power arise, and by it my strength was renewed in 
the inner man, and faith, wisdom, and courage with it, so that tJie fear of man, 
with all his parts and learning, was taken from me ; and in this state George 
Keith appeared to me but as a little child, or as uotiiing. . . . He said. The 
Quakers pretend to be against all ceremonies, but he could prove that they 
used many ceremonies, as taking one another by tlie hand, and men saluting 
one another, and women doing so to one another ; and he said that women 
did salute men ; yea, they had done it to him ; as it was generally understood 
by those who heard him, wlficli I thought not worthy of notice. He went on, 
and said, the Quakers pretend to be against all persecution, but tliey were not 
clear, for the Quakers in Pennsylvania and the Jerseys had persecuted him, 
and would have hanged him, but that there was some altei'ation in the govern- 
ment. Tlien came out one of my arrows wliich cut and wounded him deep; 
I said, George, that is not true. Upon that the priest drew near, and appeared 
veiy brisk, and said I had as good as charged Mr. Keith (as he called him) with 
a lie. I replied, give me time, and I will prove that which George said was not 
true, and tlien thou and he may take your advantage to rescue him from that epi- 
thet of a liar, if you can. The priest said, I know not Mr. Keith. I replied, if he 
knew him as well as I did, he would be ashamed to be there as an abettor of 
him. The priest got away and troubled me no more in all the arguments that 
George and I had aftei-wards (although the said priest was with him.) 

[Here let us pause a moment and throw a glance back upon 
the rationale of the edifying occasion, imagining how those 
assembled partisans, on either side of the fence, must have had 
their christian sympathies refreshed and perceptions improved 
by the encounter of the sturdy combatants. Do such things give 
us a particularly elevated idea of the piety of the times? Or 
does it appear that the non-resistant principles of the Quakers 
had become sufBciently consolidated to withstand the pugnacity 
of nature? But we will proceed with Mr. Richardson's account 
of the transactions at the meeting-house, the next day. 



'annals op LYNN— 1702. 303 

Now to the meeting we went : George Keitli with two priests and a great 
many people gathered together of several professions and qualities into one 
body, and Friends and some friendly people into another body ; and as we 
came near to the nieeting-house, I stood still, and took a view of the people, 
and it appeared to me as if two armies were going to engage in battle. There 
appeai'ed with George Keith men of considerable estates, parts, and learnuig, 
and we appeared like poor slu-ubs." 

[Before entering the meeting-house, Mr. Richardson addressed 
a few words of advice and encouragement to the Friends. And 
immediately after they had entered, Mr. Keith proclaimed that 
he had come, in the Queen's name, to gather Quakers from 
Quakerism to the good old mother Church, the Church of Eng- 
land ; and that he could prove, out of their own books, that 
they held errors, heresies, damnable doctrines, and blasphemies. 
Upon this, Mr. Richardson was moved to inform the assembly 
what manner of man Mr. Keith was. He stated that he had 
been a Quaker for many years, but during the latter part of his 
walk with them, had been very troublesome on account of his 
contentious spirit; and as they had in vain labored to reform 
him, he had been publicly disowned ; whereupon he commenced 
opposing and vilifying them. And sundry other rough person- 
alities and home thrusts did the Quaker champion deliver. In 
the course of the discussion divers points of doctrine and prin- 
ciples of faith were considered and more or less darkened by 
the unchristian spirit manifested. Mr. Richardson proceeds : 

The priest of this place, whose name was Shepard, before my mouth was 
opened in testimony, made preparation to write ; and when I began to speak, he 
had his liat upon his knee, and his paper upon its crown, and pen and ink in 
his iiands, and made many motions to write, but wrote nothing ; as he began, 
so he cnd(!d, without writing at all. And as Friends entered the meeting-house 
in the Lord's power, even that power which cut Rahab, and wotmded the Drag- 
on, which had been at work, kept down in a good degree the wrong spirit in 
George, for he appeai-ed much down ; but this busy priest called to him several 
times to make his reply to what I had spoke. After some time, I said to the 
priest, in behalf of the meeting, that he might have liberty to make reply. He 
proposed to have another day appointed for a dispute; to which I said, if I 
did make a voluntary challenge, (which he should not say we put him upon) 
we, or some of us, (meaning Friends) if a day and place were agreed upon, 
should find it our concern to answer him as well as we could. He said he 
would have Mr. Keith to be with him; I told him, if be should, and meddled 
in the dispute, if I was thei'e, I should reject him for reasons before assigned. 
When tiie priest had said this, and somevviiat moj-e, an elder of the Presbjte- 
rian congregation clapped him on the shoulder, and bid him sit down ; so he 
was quiet ; and then stood up George Keith, and owned he had been refreshed 
amongst us that day, and had heard a great many sound truths, witli some 
errors, but that it was not the common doctrine which the Quakers pi'eachcd. 

[Mr. Richardson repelled the obnoxious insinuation contained 
in the last clause. Whereupon the other began to exhibit 
charges against the Quakers, declaring that he could prove 
them by their own books ; referring especially to the works of 
Fox and Burroughs. Mr. Richardson continues: 



304 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1702. 

He had in a paper, a great many quotations out of Friends' books, and a 
young man with him had many books in a bag. ... He was now crowded 
up into the gallery between me and the rail, with a paper in his hand, and I 
standing over him, and being taller, could see his quotations, and his para- 
phrases upon them ; on which I told him, loudly, that all the meeting might 
hear, that he offered violence to the sense and understanding which God had 
given him, and he knew in his conscience, we were not that people, neither 
were our Friends' writings either damnable or blasphemous, as he, through 
envy, endeavored to make the world believe, and that he would not have 
peace in so doing, but trouble from the Lord in his conscience. I spoke in 
the Lord's dreadful power, and George trembled so much as I seldom ever 
saw any man do. I pitied him in my heart, yet as Moses said once concerning 
Israel, I felt the wrath of tlie Lord go forth against him. George said, "Do 
not judge me." I replied. The Lord judges, and all who are truly one in 
spirit with the Lord, cannot but judge thee. So he gave over: and it appear- 
ing a suitable time to break up the meeting. Friends parted in great love, 
tenderness, and brokenness of heart ; for the Lord's mighty power had been 
in and over the meeting from the beginning to the end thereof . , . Two 
Friends were desired to stay, to hear what George had to say to them who 
remained, which said two Friends gave an account to us afterwards, that 
George said to tiie people after we were gone, that the Quakers had left none 
to dispute with him but an ass and a fool ; when I heard it, I said, could you 
not have replied, An ass was once made sufficient to reprove the madness 
of the prophet. . . . George called to see me the next day, and said "You 
had the advantage over me yesterday, for you persuaded me to be quiet until 
you had done, and then you would not stay to hear me ; " neither, indeed, 
were we under any obligation so to do. I told him, I hoped that truth would 
always have the advantage over those who opposed it; and so we parted, but 
met again upon Rhode Island. 

[And thus ended one of those '' disputes " on christian doc- 
trine, so characteristic of the time. The champions seem to have 
been well matched as to ability and destitution of Christian 
courtesy. And it is probable that the friends of each claimed 
a victory, as is usually the case in such contests. I have given 
the account from the details furnished by the opposing parties 
themselves, who deemed the affair of sufficient importance to 
merit narration in their journals. And certainly a strange 
spectacle is presented, though one that well illustrates the man- 
ner of conducting religious controversies at that period ; those 
controversies in which asperity of temper and bitterness of 
expression were especially conspicuous. And when Episcopa- 
lians, Congregtionalists, or Quakers, of this day, undertake to 
defend the course of their fathers in the faith, in every particu- 
lar, and on principles that obtain at the present time, they 
undertake a labor that it would be more creditable to avoid. 
And when those same theological partisans, on the promulgation 
of an unpalatable truth concerning their kindred of the past, 
deem themselves under censure, thev exhibit an unreasonable 
sensibility. 

[Mr. Shepard, the minister at the Old Tunnel Meeting House, 
■was present to enjoy the proceedings. And he exhibited some- 
thing of that inclemency of temper which on certain other occa- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1703, 1704. 305 

Bi'oDS reached a point that furnished but a poor example for 
those to whom he preached forbearance and meekness. The 
fact that such a sturdy hater of the Churcli as he, could readily 
fraternize with an Episcopal missionary, and stand his abettor in 
assaults upon Quakerism, is instructive. But we must consider 
that he had nothing to fear from Episcopacy, while Quakerism 
was making great inroads upon his parochial jurisdiction.] 

On the 14th of December, ten pounds were allowed for the 
maintenance of a grammar master ; "and such master to have, 
over and above the said ten pounds, 2 pence per week for such 
as are sent to read, 3 pence per week for them that are sent to 
write and cipher, and 6 pence per week for them that are sent 
to learn Latin, to be paid by parents and masters that send 
their children or servants to learn as aforesaid." 

[The price of oak wood, was three shillings a cord, this year. 
Walnut was generally preferred for fuel, and that sold for five 
shillings.] 

1703. 

[The following is a copy of a letter sent to Governor Dudley, 
by the Quakers of Lynn. '' Lynn, 22th 4 m° 1703. Whereas, 
we, the people called Quakers, of the town of Lynn, having 
been requested by the governor to give in a list of our names — 
in answer thereunto each person hath respectively signed by 
himselfe." The signatures are, Richard Estes, Samuel Collins, 
William Bassett, Walter Phillips, Richard Oake, Joseph Rich- 
ards, John Hood, Samuel Breed, Hugh Alley, William Bassett, 
Jr., John Bassett, John Colh'ns, Jabez Jenkins, Walter Phillips, 
Jr., Isaac Clark, Samuel Collins, Jr., John Estes. 

[Walter Phillips, senior, being a Quaker, and refusing to per- 
form military duty, had a fourth of an acre of his land seized 
and sold for the payment of his fine. 

[The town paid the sexton two pounds and thirteen shillings 
for " sweeping y® meeting house, and Ringing y* bell for y* 
year past, and one shilling for gitting y'^ Claper for y^ bell."] 

1704. 

This year another war was prosecuted with the French and 
Indians, called Queen Anne's war. It was begun by the In- 
dians in the preceding year, and was productive of the most 
dreadful cruelt}'. Several of the soldiers from Lynn were taken 
prisoners. It continued about a year. 

Col, Benjamin Church, who commanded in this expedition, 

wrote a letter to Governor Dudley, requesting " That four or 

five hundred pair of good Indian shoes be made ; and let there 

be a good store of cow hides, well tanned, for a supply of sunh 

Z" 20 



306 ANNALS OP LYNN— 1705, 1706. 

Bhoes, and hemp to make thread, and wax, to mend and make 
more such shoes when wanted, and a good store of awls." 

On the 6th of March, the town, " being informed that several 
persons had cut down several trees or bushes in Nahants, where- 
by there is like to be no shade for the creatures," voted that 
no person should cut any tree or bush there, on a penalty often 
shillings. 

1705. 

[There was a very violent northeast storm on the 29th and 
30th of January. Immense quantities of snow fell. Joseph 
Newhall, of Lynn, perished in the storm, on the second day. 
He was no doubt the same individual elsewhere noticed as a 
son of Thomas Newhall, the first white person born in Lynn. 
He was born 22 September, 1658, married Susanna, a sister of 
Thomas Farrar, Jr., and settled in Lynnfield. He had eleven 
children, and a great many of his descendants remain. 

[In June, a severe drought prevailed. "Corn and grass 
perished, pretty much."] 

170 6. 

Nahant, and the great range of woodland in the north of the 

town, had from the first settlement, been retained in common. 

The same spirit of practical democracy which had influenced 

the people at the beginning, was carried out through all their 

public affairs. Nahant was used as a common pasture, where 

any one who chose, put cattle and sheep, which were tended 

by a person, chosen and paid by the town, called a shepherd. 

In like manner the great woodlands had been reserved for 

common use, and the people cut their fuel in such quantities as 

they pleased in the woodlands nearest their dwellings. If any 

required timber for building, they selected the fine old oaks 

that plumed the craggy cliffs, and the tall, straight trunks which 

grew in the dark pine forests, to make into boards at the saw 

mill. But now the people had so increased, and the limits of 

their cultivated lands become so permanently established, that 

they concluded it would be best to have some more definite 

regulations for their government in future. 

On the 15th of April, a town meeting was held, when it was 
resolved to make a division of the public lands, only reserving 
the training field, which is now called the Common. They 
chose a committee of three persons from other towns, to make 
the division, whom they directed to allow each proprietor at 
least one fourth upland, and as near his own house as might be. 
The committee were Captain Samuel Gardner, of Salem, John 
Greenland, of Maiden, and Joseph Hasey, of Chelsea. [And 
they make return of their doings as follows.] 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1706. 307 

We ■whose names are licreunto subscribed, bavinfj been chosen by the 
Towne of Lyn, at a Towne Meetinj? held April 15tl), 1706, as a committee to 
Divide all the Undivided Common T/mds witliin the Towne of Lyn, aforesaid, 
by such rules, and in such way and manner as shall be agreed upon by us; 
we having agreed and made Division of the Common Undivided Lands too 
and amongst all the proprietors and Inhabitants that have land of their own 
in fee, according to said Town Voate, so far as appeared to us. The way and 
manner of otu- Division, and that wliich we have agreed upon to make our 
rules by, are as followeth. 

We first obtained of the Selectmen of said Lyn, a copy of the List of Estate 
taken by them in 1705, which list being first perfected and made intelligible 
to us by the Selectmen, through our desire, by their bringing eacli person's 
lantl to the Right owner, and by adding such to said List, that by Reason of 
poverty, or others being in captivity, had been left out of said List, that soe 
we might come to the knowledge of all the proprietors and Inhabitants that 
have Lands of theire owue in fee; we having made division of tlie aforesaid 
Common Lands according to what each proprietor and Inhabitant have of 
Lands upon said List. 

1. We first taking out, according to the best Information we coidd obtaine, 
all such as had houses erected since the year 1694, who are priviledged for so 
much and no more than what each person bathe of Lands upon said List. 

2. A second Rule by which we make division is, that all such as have upon 
said List foure acres of Land or any Less quantity, to have priviledg tor five 
acres; and all such as liave five acres to have priviledg for six acres"; and all 
such as have six acres to have priviledg of seven acres ; and all such as have 
seven acres to have priviledg for eight acres ; and no person to receive advan- 
tage any fui-ther for any more than for what they have upon said List. 

3. A third Rule of our Division is, that all such as have upon said List anv 
greater number of acres than eight, till they come to twenty acres, counting 
two acres of pasture land for one of tillage Land ; we finding them to be Rated 
but halfe soe much for pasture Land as for tillage or Improved Lands ; are 
priviliged according to the number of acres they iiavc on the List. 

4. A fourth Rule is, that all those that have* above twenty acres upon said 
List, until they come to thirty acres, shall receive privilidg but for one fourth 
part of all they have ahove twenty acres; and for what laud any person h.-itlie 
on said List above thirty acres, shall receive priviledg but for one eiglith part 
of what is above thiity acres. 

5. And wliereas we, the aforesaid Committee, according to said Towne 
voate, are to Leave convenient ways in all places, as we shall think fitt. we 
have agreed tjiat, by reason of the Impossibility of making highways passable, 
if Laid upon the Range Lines, Doe theretbre order, that all the "proprietors 
concerned, their heirs and assigns forever, to have free Liberty to pass aufl 
Repass over each person's Letts, that is laid out by us on the commons, witli 
carts and teams, to transport wood, timber, and stones, or upon any other oca- 
tion whatsoever, in such places as may be convenient, witliout any molestation, 
hindrance, or Interrujition from any of the pro|)rietors, their heirs or assigns; 
but no person to Damnific his neighbor by Cutting Downe his tree or trees. 

We have left a higliway over I^ittle Nahant two" poles wide on the west end, 
and soe Runing over the beach unto Great Nahant; and soe on tlie south- 
wardly side of the hill to about ten pole above the Calf Spring, and running 
planting up the hill into the old way, and soe runing on the northeast end of 
James Mills his land, and soe on "to the first Range in the ram pasture; and 
have left about one acre of land joining to the highway by the Spriug to 
accomidate Cattle coming to the Spring. We have also left' a highway, two 
pole wide from the highway by the Spring, ouer into Boss neck, aiid soe 
through the Ranges to the southermost Range on said neck. We have also 
left a highway, two pole wide, on the Bay side, over to Bass neck, and so ouer 
Mr. Taylor's lott, Joseph Jacob's lott, and Moses Hudson's Lott, unto the other 



o 



08 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1706. 



highway ; and have left a highway one po\e wide over the westward end of 
each Rcinjre on great Nahant; and a highway one pole wide, on the north- 
wardly end of each Range on Bass neck; and a highway one pole wide ouer 
between the range of lots, halfe a pole on each Range, on each side of the 
Range Line on Little Nahant. 

Thus we make Returne of this our Doings, this first Day of January, 1706-7. 

Samuel Gardner, 
John Greenland, 
. Joseph Haset. 

On the 28th of September, " The towne considering the great 
difficulty of laying out highways on the common lands, by rea- 
son of the swamps, hills, and rockenes of the land, theirfore 
voated, that after said common lands shall be divided, every 
person interested therein, shall have free liberty at all times, to 
pass and repass over each others' lotts of lands, to fetch their 
wood and such other things as shall be upon their lands, in any 
place or places, and for no other ends, provided they do not cut 
downe any sort of tree or trees in their so passing over." Eleven 
persons entered their dissent to this vote, but do not state 
Avhether it was against the privilege, or its limitation. Men 
frequently want to pass on to iheir lots for other purposes than 
to fetch wood; and in many places in the woods, if they had 
not cut down a tree, it would have been utterly impossible ever 
to have gone upon their lots at all with a carriage. If this vote 
were a law, many proprietors on Nahant, even now, could not 
go upon their lands to plant or build. But the warrant for 
calling this meeting is unrecorded. 

The Common Lands were laid out by the committee in "Seven 
Divisions." The First Division began on the west of Saugua 
river, including what was called the Six Hundred Acres, which 
were then in Lynn. The Second Division ran across the north- 
ern part of the town, and the Seventh Division was Nahant. 

There is no record that the report of the committee was ac- 
cepted, though it probably was, as it was recorded, with all the 
separate lots and owners' names. The woodlands and the 
Nahants were laid out in Ranges, forty rods in width, and these 
were divided into lots, containing from about one eighth of an 
acre to eight acres. Many of these lots were afterward subdi- 
vided among heirs, so that many lots on Nahant are now six 
hundred and sixty feet long, and from two feet to eight feet 
wide. This renders it impossible in many places to obtain a 
building lot, without purchasing of many owners. Several lots 
are as narrow as two feet and three inches, and for each of these 
a separate deed must be written. I have constructed a com- 
plete map of Nahant on a very large scale, on which the lots are 
shown with the names of the original proprietors and the pres- 
ent owners. 

[It will be observed that the above stands as it did in the 1844 



ANNALS OP LYNN— 1708, 1712, 1713, 1715. 309 

edition. Many changes have of course taken place since that 
time. But it will always be interesting as showing how mat- 
ters formerly stood in these important particulars.] 

1708. 

[A fast was held, 23 June, and prayers offered for deliverance 
from the devastations committed by insects, on the fruit trees. 
They appear to have been caterpillars and canker worms. And 
we had, in 1863, another grievous instance of the destruction 
that may be accomplished through the combined industry of 
those voracious little spoilers. But this unbelieving generation 
instead of resorting to prayers and fasting, resorted to burning 
brimstone and other stifling appliances.] 

1712. ♦ 

Lynnfield was set off as a parish, or district, 17 November. 
The inhabitants were to be freed from parish taxes, as soon as 
a meeting-house should be built, and a minister settled. The 
people of Lynnfield, in the town records, are 'called ''our neigh- 
bors, the farmers." 

This year, all the shells, which came upon the Nahant beaches, 
were sold by the town, to Daniel Brown, and William Gray, for 
thirty shillings. They were not to sell the shells for more than 
eight shillings a load, containing forty-eight bushels, heaped 
measure. The people were permitted to dig and gather the 
clams as before, but they were required to open them on the 
beach, and leave the shells. The house in which I was born, 
was plastered with lime made from these shells. 

1713. 

Mr. John Merriam was employed as schoolmaster. The school 
was called a grammar school, because Latin was taught in it. 
The other studies were reading, writing, and ciphering. Eng- 
lish grammar was not a common study, and no book on that 
subject was introduced into general use, till about seventy 
years after this time. No arithmetic was used by the scholars, 
but the master wrote all the sums on the slate. No spelling 
book was used. [So one would naturally conclude from the 
ways in which words were sometimes spelled. There had been 
no established system of orthography, but each spelled as best 
I suited his own fancy, using letters iiv any way that gave the 
sound of the word. Some uniformity, however, now prevailed.] 

1715. 

The first meeting-house in the second parish, now Lynnfield, 
was built. When the building of the first parish meeting-house 
was in contemplation, the people of the northern part of the 



310 ANNALS OF LYNN— 1716, 1717. 

town, being obliged to travel six or eight miles to meeting, 
wished to have the house placed in a central situation, and a 
committee was appointed to " chuse " a place. They selected 
a hill, now included in the bounds of Saugus, which was thence 
called Harmony Hill. It was afterward determined to place 
the house on the Common, and the people of Lynnfield continued 
to attend meeting there till this year. 

1716. 

A gentleman whose name was Bishop, was schoolmaster. 

Mr. Ebenezer Tarbox was chosen, by the town, as shepherd. 

Three porches were added to the first parish meeting-house, 
and a curiously carved and paneled oak pulpit, imported from 
England, was set up. 

[Jonathan Townsend, of Lynn, graduated at Harvard College. 
He was settled, 23 March, in Needham, being the first minister 
of the place, and remained in the ministry forty-two years. He 
died 30 September, 1762, aged 64. A record in his hand wri- 
ting, dated Needham, 17 July, 1735, states an interesting fact 
regarding a lady, who, it is probable, was a member of his 
church: "This day died here, Mrs. Lydia Chickering, in the 
83d year of her age. She was born in Dedham, in New Eng- 
land, July 14, 1652, and about the year 1671 went up from 
thence to Hadley, where for the space of about a year, she 
waited upon Col. Whalley, and Col. GofiFe (two of King Charles 
Ist's judges), who had fled thither from the men that sought 
their lives. She was the daughter of Capt. David Fisher, of 
Dedham, one of the magistrates of the colony under the old 
charter." 

[Governor Shute passed through Lynn, 15 October. There 
was considerable parade. The Salem troop, under Col. Brown, 
came over, to escort him to their town, where he was received 
in a becoming manner, had " a splendid entertainment," and 
remained over night. He was on a journey to New Hampshire. 
[An extraordinary darkness prevailed at mid-day, 21 October. 
Lighted candles were found necessary on the dinner table, fowls 
went to roost, and there was great alarm.] 

1717. 

Two great storms on the 20th and 24th of February, covered 
the ground so deep with snow, that people for some days could 
not pass from one house to another. Old Indians, of a hundred 
years, said that their fathers had never told them of such a snow. 
It was from ten to twenty feet deep, and generally covered the 
lower story of the houses. Cottages of one story were entirely 
buried, so that the people dug paths from one house to another, 
under the snow. Soon after, a slight rain fell, and the frost 



/ 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1717. 311 

crusted the snow ; and then the people went out of their cham- 
ber windows, and walked over it. Many of the farmers lost 
their sheep ; and most of the sheep and swine which were saved, 
lived from one to two weeks without food. One man had some 
hens buried near his barn, which were dug out alive eleven 
days after. During this snow, a great number of deer came 
from the woods for food, and were followed by the wolves, 
which killed many of them. Others were killed by the people 
with guns. Some of the deer fled to Nahant, and being chased 
by the wolves, leaped into the sea, and were drowned. Great 
damage was done to the orchards, by the snow freezing to the 
branches, and splitting the trees as it fell. This snow formed 
a remarkable era in New England; and old people, in relating 
an event, would say that it happened so many years before or 
after the great snow. Hon. John Winthrop says : " We lost at 
the island and farms above 1100 sheep, beside some horses and 
cattle interred in the snow ; and it was very strange, that 28 
days after the storm, the inhabitants of Fisher's Island, in pulling 
out the ruins of 100 sheep, out of the snow bank in the valley, 
where the snow had drifted over them sixteen feet, found two 
of them alive in the drift, which had lain on them all that time, 
and kept themselves alive by eating the wool off the others." 
The mail was nine days in reaching Portsmouth, and eight in 
returning. [But the greatest snow storm of the year occurred 
in April It being so late in the season, however, the effects 
were not long visible.] 

_ The town tax, this year, was X237. Mr. Shepard's salary was 
eighty-seven pounds ; and the rest was for the school, and other 
town debts. 

It was in one of the great storms of this year, that Samuel 
Bellamy's pirate ship, the Whidah, of 23 guns and 130 men, was 
wrecked on Cape Cod, and more than one hundred dead bodies 
were found on the shore. Six of the survivors were afterward 
executed at Boston. 

This year Nahant was again without an inhabitant; James 
Mills being dead, and his family removed. His house and land 
became the property of Dr. John Henry Burchsted, who, on 
the 18th of December, sold it to Samuel Breed. He built a 
house where Whitney's Hotel now stands. He was very small 
in stature, and was generally called " Governor Breed." He 
was born November 11, 1692, married Deliverance Bassett, 
June 25, 1720, (the same who was mentioned as a child in 1692,) 
and had five children ; Anna, Sarah, Huldah, Nehemiah, and 
William. His house became the property of his son Nehemiah, 
and his grandson William, by whom it was rebuilt in 1819. 
For twenty-four years this house was kept as a hotel, by Jesse 
Rice; and was purchased, in 1841, by Albert Whitney. [Mr. 



312 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1718. 

Whitney is a son-in-law of Mr. Rice, and still [18G4] continues 
the public house.] 

Jabez Breed, brother of Samuel, soon after removed to Na- 
hant and built a house directly opposite. A few years after- 
ward, Richard Hood exchanged his house in Nahant street for 
this. He married Theodate Collins, May 20, 1718, and had 
eight children ; Theodate, Jedediah, Content, Rebecca, Hannah, 
Patience, Abner and Abigail. His descendants still live at 
Nahant, on the estate of their ancestor. 

The third house on Nahant was built by Jeremiah Gray, a 
carpenter, and uncle of Lieutenant Governor William Gray. 
This house, about the year 1770, was sold to Jonathan John- 
son. [And it afterward became the property of his son, Caleb 
Johnson, by whom it is still occupied.] 

These were the only three houses on Nahant until the year 
1803. Their occupants were Quakers, and kept no taverns, but 
accommodated a few boarders in the summer, and occasionally 
made a fish chowder, for parties who visited Nahant from Bos- 
ton and other places. 

1718. 

In the beginning of this year, Mr. Shepard was unwell ; and 
a gentleman whose name was Townsend, was employed to preach 
five sermons ; for which the town paid him fifty shillings. The 
Selectmen, on the 5th of March, were directed to employ a 
schoolmaster ; and in their agreement with him, " to have rela- 
tion to some help for Mr. Shepard in preaching." 

According to tradition — which may not very safely be relied 
on in matters of importance, though it may assist in delineating 
manners and customs — it was about this time that potatoes were 
first introduced into Lynn. Mr. John Newhall received two or 
three, which he planted; and when he gathered the produce, 
a few of them were roasted and eaten, merely from curiosity ; 
and the rest were put into the shell of a gourd, and hung up in 
the cellar. The next year he planted them all, and had enough 
to fill a two bushel basket. He knew not what to do with so 
many, and gave some of them to his neighbors. Soon after, 
one of them said to him : " Well, I have found that potatoes are 
good for something. I had some of them boiled, and ate them 
with fish, and they relished very well." It was several years 
after this, before potatoes came into general use, and then only 
in small quantities. A flirmer, who kept a very particular ac- 
count of every day's employment, first mentions " patatas," as 
a common article, in 1733. [But in the Colony Records we 
find potatoes named as early as 1628. They were among the 
articles to be provided for the Massachusetts settlers and sent 
over by the Company, probably for planting. Historians have 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1719. 313 

generally supposed they were not known in England before 
1653, when some were carried there by Sir John Hawkins, 
from Santa Fe. But the above indicates an earlier introduction. 
And besides, as Mr. Felt mentions, Bermuda potatoes sold in 
our colony, in 163G, for 2d. a pound; but these were probably 
what we now call sweet potatoes. The common potato, how- 
ever, came slowly into general use. And it seems evident that 
in some places at least it fell under a sort of religious ban ; 
attributable, as some have thought, to the fact that it is not 
mentioned in the Bible ; but this cannot have been the case, 
as the use of sundrj^ other vegetables which were highly esteem- 
ed, would, for the same reason have been interdicted. If it be 
true that potatoes were brought here as early as 1628, for culti- 
vation, as an article of food, it is quite remarkable that almost a 
century should have elapsed before they began to be served 
upon the table. I know it is generall}^ supposed that they 
were not introduced here till about the period indicated by the 
traditions alluded to by Mr. Lewis ; and that they were brought 
by the " Scotch Irish " immigrants, as they were called.] 

At this time, tea was little used, and tea-kettles were unknown. 
The water was boiled in a skillet; and when the ladies went to 
visiting parties, each one carried her tea-cup, saucer, and spoon. 
The tea-cups were of the best china, and very small, containing 
about as much as a common wine-glass. Coffee did not come 
into use until many years after. 

1719. 

The northern lights were first mentioned this year, on the 17th 
of December. The people were much alarmed at their appear- 
ance. The. northern hemisphere seemed to be on fire ; and it is 
said that the coruscations were distinctly heard, like the rustling 
of a silken banner. [It is an interesting question, whether this 
was the first time that the northern lights were observed here. 
If the earlier settlers had seen them it is remarkable that re- 
corded descriptions are not found. It seems now to be settled 
that intervals of many years, perhaps centuries, do occur in 
which they are not seen ; and then they suddenly blaze forth 
again to tlfe surprise and terror of mankind. I have seen this 
peculiarity remarked upon in a history of Iceland. The ancients 
Lave left no account of the phenomenon, under the present 
name ; though some have imagined that it is alluded to in the 
book of Job, ch. 37, v. 22 — "Fair weather cometh out of the 
north : Avith God is terrible majesty " — the term rendered " fair 
weather," meaning also bright light. And the last reading 
seems most natural, as there is no '' terrible majesty " con- 
nected with fiiir weather. The following extract from a curious 
letter, dated Chester, 19 June, 1619, may be sufficient to con- 
A2 



314 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1720. 

viuce some that the northern lights were seen before this 
year: "Being late out on .Saturday night to see my horse eat 
his Gates, it being past 12 a clock at night, we saw in the North 
East, in the Ayre, 2 black Clowdes firing one against the other, 
as if they had been 2 Armies in the Clowdes : The fire was 
disserned sometimes more and sometimes lesse by us. It was 
not a continuing fire, but exactly as if Muskitiers were discharg- 
ing one against another. Sometimes there could be no fire 
scene, and then about half an hour after, we could discerne the 
North Clowde retreat: And so it did till the day began to 
appear, and all the while the last Clowde following it, both firing 
each at other : It was the strangest sight that ever I saw, nor 
can I relate the exactnesse of it; it was in such a wonderful 
loanner that I cannot express it." It is not easy to determine 
Vvhat this was, if it was not the aurora borealis, though in some 
particulars the description does not exactly answer for the 
usual appearance at the present day. The wonder-struck ob- 
servers, however, could not have supposed that the contending 
forces intended much damage to each other, as their shooting 
was probably perpendicular and not horizontal. 

[The summer of this year was remarkable for copious rains. 
In the Boston News Letter, for the week ending 17 August, 
appears this paragraph : " It is very remarkable that tho' on last 
Lord's Day we had then some Rain, which had been grievous 
for about a Month before, that after the Ministers of the several 
Meeting Houses had made Intimation to their Congregations 
of their intending the Thursday following, that the Publick Lec- 
ture should be turned into a Day of Fasting and Prayer, to beg 
of God that He would avert His Judgments in granting suitable 
and seasonable Weather, after the great Rains, to ripen and 
gather in the Fruits of the Earth, both by Land and Sea, that 
that self same Evening the Rain ceased and the sun shone clear 
ever since, even before the Day appointed for His people to call 
upon Him for these great mercies."] 

1720. 

The Rev. Jeremiah Shepard was the fourth son of the Rev. 
Thomas Shepard, minister of Cambridge, who came from Tow- 
cester, in England, in 1635. His mother, who was his father's 
third wife, was Margaret Boradile. He was born at Cambridge, 
August 11th, 1648, and graduated at Harvard College in 1669. 
He was the first minister of Lynn, who was born and educated 
in America. His brother Thomas was minister of Charlestown, 
and his brother Samuel minister of Rowley. In 1675, he 
preached as a candidate at Rowley, after the death of _ his bro- 
ther ; and in 1678 at Ipswich. He came to Lynn in 1679, 
during the sickness of Mr. Whiting, and was ordained on the 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1720. 315 

6tb of October, IGSO. He was admitted a freeman in the same 
year. He resided, at first, in the street which has been called 
by his name ; and afterward built a house, which, was burnt 
down, on the north side of the Common, between Mall and Park 
streets. In 1689, he was chosen Representative to the General 
Court ; and this is perhaps the only instance in the early history 
of New England, in which a minister of the gospel sustained 
that office. He died on the 3d of June, 1720, aged seventy-two, 
having preached at Lynn forty years. 

The life of Mr. Shepard was distinguished by his unvaried 
piety. He was one of those plain and honest men, who adorn 
their station by spotless purity of character ; and has left a name 
to which no one can annex an anecdote of mirth, and which no 
one attempts to sully by a breath of evil. He was indefatigable 
in his exertions for the spiritual welfare of his people ; but his 
dark and melancholy views of human nature tended greatly to 
contract the circle of his usefulness. It is the practice of many 
who attempt to direct us in the way of truth, that, instead of 
laying open to us the inexhaustible stores of happiness, which 
the treasury of the Gospel affords — instead of drawing aside 
the veil which conceals from man's darkened heart the inexpres- 
sible joys of the angelic world, and inducing us to follow the 
path of virtue, from pure affection to Him who first loved us — • 
they give unlimited scope to the wildest imaginations that ever 
traversed the brain of a human being, and plunge into the un- 
fathomable abyss of superstition's darkness, to torture the minds 
of the living by stirring up the torments of the dead, and driv- 
ing us to the service of God, by unmingled fear of his extermin- 
ating wrath. It is not requisite for the prevalence of truth, that 
we should be forever familiar with the shadows that encompass 
it. The mind may dwell upon darkness until it has itself become 
dark, and callous to improvement — or reckless and despairing 
%of good. That Mr. Shepard's views of human nature, and of 
the dispensation of the Gospel, were of the darkest kind, is 
evident from the sermons which he has left ; and these opinions 
unfortunately led him to regard the greater part of the christian 
world as out of the way of salvation, and to look upon the 
crushed remnant of the red men as little better than the wild 
beasts of the forest. In alluding to the mortality which pre- 
vailed among the Indians, in 1633, he says that " the Lord swept 
away thousands of those salvage tawnies, those cursed devil 
worshipers." 

His writings exhibit occasional gleams of genius and beauty; 
but they are disfigured by frequent quotations from the dead 
languages, and by expressions inconsistent with that nobleness 
of sentiment and purity style, which should be sedulously culti- 
vated by the young. It was the custom in his time, to prolong 



316 ANNALS of"" LYNN — 1720. 

the sermon at least one hour, and sometimes it was extended 
to two ; and a sand glass was placed on the pulpit to measure 
the time. In one of his sermons he alludes to this practice : 
*' Thou art restless till the tiresome glass be run out, and the 
tedious sermon be ended," He published the following works : 

1. " A Sort of Believers Never Saved." Boston, 1711, 12mo. 

2. "Early Preparations for Evil Da3's." Boston, 1712, 24mo. 

3. " General Election Sermon." Boston, 1715, 12mo. 

[Mr. Shepard does not appear to have been entirely exempt 
from the prevailing custom of the early clergy of sometimes 
expressing their thoughts in numbers. Few specimens of his 
versification, however, are now to be found. • In the first edition 
of Hubbard's Indian Wars, printed in 1677, is a page of poetry, 
following the " Advertisement to the Reader," addressed " To 
the Reverend Mr. William Hubbard, on his most exact History 
of New England Troubles," and signed J. S. ; which initials are 
generally supposed to refer to Mr. Shepard. A short extract 
follows : 

When thy rare Piece unto my view once came, 
It made my muse that erst did smoke, to flame ; 
Raising my fancy, so sublime^ tliat I 
That famous forked Mountain did espie ; 
Thence in an Extasie I softly fell 
Down near unto the Helliconian Well. 

[That the church at Lynn enjoyed a good degree of temporal 
prosperit}'- under the ministry of Mr. Shepard seems evident; 
and it does not appear that its spiritual progress was not com- 
mensurate ; though outward prosperity is not a sure indication 
of godliness within. The encomiums of Mr. Lewis, so far as they 
touch certain points in the character of Mr. Shepard are, no 
doubt, well merited ; and the reflections on the dark features 
are as judicious as direct. But the entire character is not 
given. One might infer, from what is said, that he was of af 
quiet, retiring disposition ; but such, I apprehend, was by no 
means the case. He was vigorous, if not passionate. His piety 
may have been deep and sincere ; and so were his prejudices. 
In the troublous times of the Andros administration, he was 
more distinguished for political ardor, than christian forljearance. 
He certainly seems to have secured the attachment of the peo- 
ple here; and he could not have had so many friends and held 
them so long without possessing some sterling qualities. But 
while preaching at Rowley he was almost constantly embroiled 
with the people, and became the subject of severe censure. And 
there is something mysterious if not significant in the fact that 
Cotton Mather says nothing about him. He seems to have 
preached at Rowley and Ipswich not only before he was or- 
dained, but before he had become a professor. In a note in 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1720. 317 

Gage's History of Rowley, page 20, appears this statement : " It 
is understood that this Jeremiah Shepard was not a member of 
any cluirch, having made no public profession of religion at tlie 
time he preached at Rowley and Ipswich." He commenced 
his labors at Rowley, in Februar}^, 1673, and continued there 
some three years. Gage remarks that he was the cause of 
much trouble in the church and town of Rowley. The town 
made him a grant, 12 December, 1673, " of £50 and one load 
of wood from each man who has a team, for his work in the 
ministry" for that year. And they further agreed, in 1674, to 
give him X50 a year, so long as he continued to preach for 
them. There was, however, even then, a respectable minority 
who dissented. The troubles increased, and in 1076, obstinate 
hostility existed between his adherents and opponents. Before 
this year closed, it became apparent that his adversaries had 
risen to a decided majority. At a town meeting held 30 January, 
1677, a motion was made to "invite Mr. Shepard to establish a 
monthl}-- lecture." But it failed, and a motion to reconsider was 
unsuccessful, when the meeting " brake up in confusion." Mr. 
Shepard sued for his salary of that year, and his suit was con- 
tested. Judgment was given in his favor at the Ipswich court, 
and the town appealed to the Court of Assistants. Finally, he 
took ,£20 as payment in full. The discord attained such an 
extremity that the General Court was appealed to. And that 
august body, in warm terms, uttered their mandate against all 
irregular proceedings, declaring that they had by law " made 
provision for the peace of the churches and a settled ministry 
in each town." What their precise view on the questions imme- 
diately concerning Mr. Shepard was, does not seem perfectly 
clear; but they order that certain of his leading ft-iends, as 
abettors in the turbulence, "be admonished, and pay, as costs, 
X6.7.8 ; " which they certainly would not have done had they 
deemed them innocent. Mr. Shepard left Rowle}'', soon after, 
and went to Chebacco parish, Ipswich, now the town of Essex, 
where he remained a short time, and then, in 1679, came to 
Lynn. I have given these passages in his life as exhibiting 
points of character which Mr. Lewis does not appear to have 
observed. And a biography is never perfect without at least a 
glimpse at every principal trait. Mr. Shepard was compara- 
tively young, at the time he preached at Rowley ; and no doubt 
as he gathered experience saw more and more clearly the neces- 
sity of restraining his natural temper; yet it would occasionally 
assert itself, to the end of his days.] 

The name of Mr. Shepard's wife was Mary. [And she was a 

daughter of Francis Wainwright, of Ipswich.] She died March 

28, 1710, aged fifty-three years. He had nine children; 1. 

Hannah, born 1676, married John Downing, of Boston, 1698. 

A2* 



318 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1720. 

2. Jeremiah, born 1677, died 1700. 3. Mehetabel, died 1688. 
4. Nathaniel, born June 16, 1681, removed to Boston. 5. Mar- 
garet, died 1683. 6. Thomas, born August 1, 1687, died 1709. 
7. Francis, died 1692. 8. John, married Alice Tucker, 1722. 
9. Mehetabel second, married Rev. James Allin of Brookline, 
1717. 

The following epitaph was transcribed from the grave stone 
of Mr. Shepard, with much difficulty, having become nearly 
obliterated by the dilapidations of time. 

Elijah's mantle drops, the prophet dies, 

His earthly mansion quits, and mounts the skies. 

; So Shepherd's gone. 

His precious dust, death's prey, indeefl is here. 
But 's nobler breatli 'moug seraphs does appear; 
He joins the adoring crowds about the throne. 
He 's conquered all^aud now lie wears the crown. 

Rev. Nathaniel Henchman, who had been invited, in February, 
to settle as a colleague with Mr. Shepard, was ordained minister 
of the first parish, in December. His salary was £115; and he 
received XI 60, as a settlement. Twenty persons, " called Qua- 
kers," were exempted, some entirely and others in part, from 
the payment of parish taxes. 

Rev. Nathaniel Sparhawk was ordained minister of the second 
parish, now Lynnfield, on the 17th of August. His salary was 
£70. 

Mr. John Lewis was master of the grammar school. The 
school was kept in four places; on the Common, at Woodend, 
in the west parish, and in the north parish. [It is probably 
intended by this phraseology that the grammar school was a 
circulating institution; not that there were four schools, but 
one school kept a part of the time in each of four places. Yet 
John Lewis was not the only schoolmaster in Lynn about this 
time. Samuel Dexter, a son of John Dexter, of Maiden, and 
afterward minister of the first church in Dcdiiam, tau2:ht here. 
In his diarv he savs : "Then being Desirous, if it micrht be, to 
Live nigher my friends, by y^ Motion of some, I was invited to 
keep y* School at Lyn. W^'fore, Quitting my school at Taunton, 
I accepted of the Proffers made at Lyn, and, Feb. 17, 1720-21, I 
Began my School at Lyn, in w*^*" I Continued a year ; and upon 
y^ Day y' my Engagement was up there A Committee from 
]\IaIdon Came to treat with me in Reference to Maldon school : 
w'^ propo'salls I Complyed with & kept y'' school for ab* six 
weeks & then was mostly, to the present time, [4 Dec. 1722,] 
Improv'd in preaching." He was a graduate of Harvard College, 
and at the time of taking the school in Lynn, was twenty years 
of age. Some of his descendants became eminent for their 
talents.] 



ANNALS OF LYNN— 1721, 1722, 1723. 319 

The General Court ordered fifty thousand pounds to be emit- 
ted in bills of credit. Of this, Lynn i-eceived £124.4 as its 
proportion, which was loaned at five per cent. This money, 
which was afterward called Old Tenor, soon began to depreciate; 
and in 1750, forty -five shillings were estimated at one dollar. 

* 1721. 

The small pox prevailed in New England. In Boston, more 
than eight hundred persons died. If the small-poK of 1633 was 
a judgment upon the Indians, for their erroneous worsliip, was 
not this equally a judgment upon the inhabitants of Boston ? 
Some men are very free in dealing out the judgments of God to 
'their enemies, while they contrive to escape from the conse- 
quence of their own reasoning. If a misfortune comes upon one 
who differs from their opinions, it ie the vengeance of heaven; 
but when the same misfortune becomes their own, it is only a 
trial. One might suppose that the observation of Solomon, that 
" all things happen alike to all men," and that still more pertinent 
remark of our Saviour, respecting the Tower of Siloam, would 
teach men understanding. (Luke 13 : 4.) But though he spoke 
so plainly, how many do not rightly understand the doctrine of 
that inimitable Teacher, 

[The Hon. John Burrill, of Lynn, then a Councillor, died of 
the dreaded disease, 10 December, aged 63 years. He was one 
of the most eminent men that Lynn, or indeed the colony ever 
produced. A biograpical notice of him appears elsewhere in 
this volume.] 

1722. 

Between the vears 1698 and 1722, there were killed in Lvnn 
woods and on Nahant, four hundred and twenty-eight foxes; 
for most of which the town paid two shillings each. In 1720, 
the town voted to pay no more for killing them, and the number 
since this time is unrecorded. We have also no account of the 
immense multitude which were killed during the first seventy 
years of the town. If these animals were as plenty in the neigh- 
borhood of Zorah, as they were at Lvnn, Samson probably had 
little difficulty in obtaining his alleged number. 

1723. 

[A terrific storm took place on Sunday, 24 February. The 
tide rose to an unusual height. Mr. Dexter says, in his diary, 
there was "y® mightyest overflowing of y^ sea y' was almost 
ever known in this Country." Rev. Thomas Smith, in his jour- 
nal notes it as "the greatest storm and highest tide that has 
been known in the country." And on the 16th of the preceding 
January he says, "This month has been the hottest that ever 



320 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1723. 

• 

was felt in the country." The hottest January, he probably 
means. The Boston News Letter, referring to the storm, says, 
" the water flowed over our WharfFs and in our Streets to a very 
surprising height. They say the Tide rose 20 Inches higher 
than ever was known before. The storm was very strong at 
North-east." 

[It is probable that the old Friends' meeting-house was built 
this year, succeeding the one ''raised on Wolf Hill," in 1678. 
The land on which it stood was given to the Society by Richard 
Estes, "in consideration of the love and good will" he bore to 
" y^ people of God called Quakers, in Lyn," by deed dated " this 
seventeenth day of the tenth month, called December in y" ninth 
year of the reign of King George, in the year of our Lord, ac- 
cording to the English account, one thousand, seven hundred 
and twenty two." The land was given "unto y'' people afore- 
mentioned, to bury their dead in, and to erect a meeting house 
for to worship God in ; I say those in true fellowship of the 
gospell unity with the monthly meeting, and those are to see to 
y'= Christian burying as we have been in y*' practice of." The 
meeting-house built this year was removed to give place to the 
new house, built in 181G; the same which is the present place 
of worship, occupying the rear of the lot and facing on Silsbe 
street. The old house may still be seen on Broad street, corner 
of Beach, where it stands, occupied by a firm engaged in the 
lumber business. The Friends are not high churchmen, and do 
not scruple, in common with most of the denominations around 
them, to take back an edifice that has once been solemnly dedi- 
cated to the service of the Lord, and devote it to worldly pur- 
poses. But even this is less objectionable, to the orderly mind, 
than so to devote it while it still remains professedly the Lord's. 

[The first mill on Saugus river, at the Bopton street crossing, 
was built this year. It was an important undertaking, and the 
town records exhibit the public action in the premises. A 
privilege was granted, 27 October, 1721, to Benjamin Potter, 
Jacob Newhall, and William Curtis, to erect a mill here. But 
they did not complete their project, and, in town meeting, 
8 October, 1722, "resigned up their grant to the town again." 
At the same meeting the privilege was granted to Thomas Chee- 
ver and Ebenezer Merriam, under some conditions : William 
Taylor and Josiah Rhodes protesting against the grant. The 
mill was soon in operation. In 1729, Merriam sold out to 
Cheevei*. And in 1738, Joseph Gould, a Quaker, purchased 
the property. He died in 1774, and the premises became dilap- 
idated, and for a time remained unfit for use. They were 
afterward purchased by George Makepeace, extensive repairs 
and additions were made, and the manufacture of snuff and 
chocolate commenced. Mr. Makepeace, in 1801, sold the pro- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1724, 1726, 1727. 321 

perty to Ebenezer Larkin, of Boston, and another, thougli he 
still continued to manage the business ; and the premises were 
afterward re-deeded to him. On tlie 6th of June, 1812, Ama- 
riah Childs bought the estate, and continued the business many 
years, with success. In 1844 Mr. Childs sold to Charles Sweet- 
ser. Saugus is undoubtedly, directly and indirectly, greatly 
indebted to these mills for her prosperity.] 

1724. 

The eastern Indians recommenced their hostilities early in 
the spring. On the 17th of April they attacked a sloop from 
Lynn, at the mouth of Kennebunk river, commanded by Captain 
John Felt, of Lynn, who went there for a load of spars. He 
had engaged two younsr men, William Wormwood and Ebenezer 
Lewis to assist him. While standing on the raft, Capt. Felt was 
shot dead. Lewis fled to the mill, when a ball struck him on 
the head and killed him instantly. The ball was afterward 
found to be flattened. Wormwood ran ashore, closely pursued 
by several Indians, and with his back to a stump defended himself 
with the butt of his musket, until he was killed by several balls. 
They were all buried in the field near Butler's rocks, and 
Capt. Felt's grave stones were standing but a few years since. 

1726. 

A ship yard was open at Lynn, wdiere the wharves have 
since been built, near Liberty Square. Between this year and 
1741, two brigs and sixteen schooners were built. (Collins's 
Journal.) It is said that before the first schooner was launched, 
a gfreat number of men and boys were employed, with pails, in 
filling her with water, to ascertain if she was tight. [Such a 
way of trying new vessels was common down to the time of the 
Revolution, and was not unknown for some years after. 

[At the Salem Court, this year, .£13.15 were awarded to Na- 
thaniel Potter, for three pieces of linen manufactured at Lynn.] 

1727. 

[The bridge over Saugus river was repaired this year, the 
county bearing two thirds of the expense. 

[News of the death of the King was received in Lynn, 14 
August, and George II. immediately proclaimed. 

[" This was a very hott August, throughout," says Jeremiah 
Bumstead, in his diary of this year.] 

An earthquake happened on the 29th of October, about twenty 
minutes before eleven, in the evening. The noise was like the 
roaring of a chimney on fire, the sea was violently agitated, and 
the stone walls and chimneys were thrown down. Shocks of 
earthquakes were continued for many weeks ; and between this 

21 



322 ANNALS OP LYNN— 1728, 1729. 

time and 1744, the Rev, Mathias Plant, of Newbury, has recorded 
nearly two hundred shocks, some of which were loud and vio- 
lent. [A memorandum in an interleaved almanac, made by 
James Jeffrey, of Salem, speaks of this as the most terrible 
earthquake ever known in New England, the first shock being- 
of two minutes' duration, and tliere being a succession of shocks 
during the week. Rev. Benjamin Colman, in a letter to bis 
daughter, dated Boston, 30 October, 1727, says: "My dear 
Child : No doubt you felt y^ awful and terrible shock of y* 
Earthquake on y^ last Night, about half an hour after ten ; and 
some of y® after tremblings at eleven and before twelve again, 
and about three and five toward morning. Y® first shock was 
very great with us and very surprising. We were all awake, 
being but just got into bed, and were soon rais'd and sat up till 
two in y^ morning, spending y^ time in humble cries to God for 
our selves and our nei'bours, and in fervent praises to him for 
our singular preservations. Your mother and sister were ex- 
ceeding thankful y* I was not with you ; that is to say, not 
absent from them, as we were proposing on thursday last. And 
as God has ordered it I hope it is much y® best. "We long to 
hear from you, how you do after such a terrifying dispensation 
to y^ whole land. We hear from Dedham, Watertown, Concord, 
Chelmsford, Lyn, &c. that y" shake was y® same, and about y® 
same time, with them that it was w*'' us. It remains a loud call 
to y^ whole land to repent, fear, and give glory to God. God 
sanctify y® rod w'^'^ he has shook over us for our humiliation and 
reformation." [A fast wa= held throughout the province, on 
Thursday, 21 December, on account of the earthquake.] 

The town, on the 22d of November, fixed the prices of grain; 
wheat at 6s., barley and rye at 5s., Indian corn at 3s., and oats 
at Is. 6d. a bushel. 

1728. 

The General Court having, the preceding year, issued sixty 
thousand pounds more, in bills of credit, the town received 
£130.4, as its proportion, which was loaned at four per cent. 

A school house was built in Laighton's lane, now Franklin 
street. ' 

1729. 

A great snow storm happened on the 15th of February, during 
which there was much thunder and lightning. 

The General Court was held at Salem, on the 28th of May, in 
consequence of the measles at Boston. 

At the request of the first parish, Mr. Henchman relinquished 
his salary of XI 15, trusting entirely to the generosity of the 
people for his support; in his own words, " depending on what 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1730, 1731. 323 

encouragement liatb been given me, of the parish doing what 
may be hiindsome for the future." At the end of the year, the 
contribution amounted to £143.1.4. 

17 3 0. 

On Sunday evening, 12 April, there was an earthquake. 

On ]\ronday, 24 August, " Governor Jonathan Belcher went 
through Lynn, and the people paid their respects to him in an 
extraordinary manner." (Collins.) 

On the 31st of August Mr. Andrew Mansfield was killed in a 
well, at Lynnfield, by a stone falling on his head. 

On the 22d of October, the northern lights appeared very 
brilliant an4 awful, flashing up in red streams. 

1731. 

The Rev. Nathaniel Sparhawk was dismissed from the pastoral 
charge of the north parish, now Lynnfield, on the first of July, 
having preached eleven years. He was a son of ^Ir. Nathaniel 
Sparhawk of Cambridge. He was born in 1694, and graduated 
at Harvard College in 1715. He was ordained August 17, 1720 ; 
and died May 7, 1732; about one year after his separation from 
that church, A part of his people had become dissatisfied with 
him, and some, whom he considered his friends, advised him to 
ask a dismission, in order to produce tranquillity. He asked a 
dismission, and it was unexpectedly granted. A committee was 
then chosen to wait on him, and receive the church records ; 
but he refused to deliver them. Soon after, he took to his bed, 
and is supposed to have died in consequence of his disappoint- 
ment. I have sixteen papers of his hand writing, the confes- 
sions of faith of his wife and other members of his church. He 
married Elizabeth Perkins, who died May 12, 17G8, aged 68 
years. He had four children. 1. Elizabeth, 2. Nathaniel, 3. 
Edward Perkins Sparhawk, born July 10, 1728, and graduated 
at Harvard College in 1753. He married Mehetabel Putnam, 
1759. He was never ordained though he preached many times 
in the parishes of Essex. I have twenty-six of his manuscript 
sermons, and seventeen interleaved almanacs. He appears not 
to have approved the settlement of Mr. Adams as minister of 
the parish for which he was a candidate, and calls him " old 
Adams, the reputed teacher of Lynnfield," He is the first per- 
son whom I found in our records, having three names. The 
custom of giving an intermediate name seems not to have been 
common, till more than one hundred years after the settlement 
of New England. 4. John, born October 24, 1730, was appren- 
ticed as a shoemaker, and afterward became a physician in Phil- 
adelphia. 

Rev. Stephen Chase, of Newbury, was ordained minister of 



32i ANNALS OF LTNN — 1732, 1733, 1736, 1737, 1738. 

the second parish, on the 24th of November. His salary was 
XIOO. 

On the 3d of August, the school-house was removed from 
Franklin street to Water Hill. 

17 3 2. 

[A severe northeast snow storm took place on the night of the 
5th of April. A memorandum in an interleaved almanac says : 
" Very wett going to the Fast."] 

On the 5th of September, there was an earthquake without 
noise. 

In October, an epidemic cold affected most of the people in 
Lynn. It ranged through America, and passed to Europe. 
(Collins.) 

17 3 3. 

A settlement was begun at Amherst, in New Hampshire, by 
people from Lynn. 

A memorandum respecting the town Meeting, on the 5th 
of March, says : " At this meeting we had a great debate and 
strife, so that the town was much in a hubbub." (Collins.) 

[The following appears on the Lynnfield church records: 
"Dec. y« 20, 1733, at a Chh. meeting. Voted that every Com- 
municant of this Chh. shall pay three pence every Sacrament 
day, in Order to make provision for the Lord's table."] 

17 3 6. 

The first meeting-house in the third parish, now Saugus, was 
built this year. 

On the 4:th of September, Thomas Hawkes was drowned. 

17 3 7. 

On Sunday, 6 February, there was an earthquake, says Col- 
lins's journal. 

Square toed shoes went out of fashion this year, and buckles 
began to be used. [It took buckles about three years to get 
into general use. Square toed shoes were again in use in 1833, 
and continued for about seven years. They are now again in 
fashion, and ought never to give place to the cramping round 
or pointed toe.] 

17 3 8. 

On the 31st of March, two houses were burnt ; one of which 
belonged to Mr. Edmund Lewis, and the other to Mr. John 
Hawkes. 

Mr. Richard Mower was schoolmaster. 

The town tax was c£119.16.10. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1739, 1740, 1741. 325 



1739. 

On the 3d of March, Mr. Theophilns BurrilPs barn was burnt. 

Rev. Edward Cbeever was ordained minister of the third 
parislij now Saiij^us, on Wednesda}', the 5th of December. 

Mr. Edmund Lewis and Mr. Ralph Lindsey, were chosen by 
the town, to enforce the act of the General Court, to prevent 
the destruction of deer. 

17 4 0.^ 

A fatal disease, called the throat distemper, prevailed in Lynn, 
and many fell victims to it. In October, six children died in 
one week, (Collins.) 

[The summer was uncommonly wet.] 

In a great snow storm, on the 17th of December, a schooner 
was wrecked on Nahant rocks. 

The winter was exceedingly cold, with many storms. The 
rivers were frozen in October. Snow began to foil on Thanks- 
giving day, November 13, and on the 4th of April following it 
covered the fences. (Collins.) 

1741. 

The winter of 1741, was perhaps the coldest ever known in 
New England, since its settlement. Francis Lewis, signer of 
the Declaration of Independence, drove his horse from New 
York to Barnstable, the whole length of Long Island Sound, on 
the ice. 

" For these 3 weeks we have had a continued series of ex- 
treme cold weather, so that our harbors and rivers are entirely 
frozen up. On Charles river a tent is erected for the entertain- 
ment of travellers. From Point Alderton along the south shore, 
the ice is continued for the space of above 20 miles." (Boston 
Post Boy, Jan. 12.) 

'^ People ride every day from Stratford, Con., to Long Island, 
which is three leagues across, which was never known before." 
(Boston News Letter, March 5.) 

" We hear that great numbers of horses, cattle, and sheep, are 
famishing for want of food. Three hundred sheep have died on 
Slocum's Island, and 3000 on Nantucket. Neat cattle die in 
great numbers." Some farmers offered half their cattle for the 
support of the rest till May, "but in vain." (Same, 26 March.) 

"Dorchester, March 28. People from Thompson's Island, 
Squantum, and the adjacent neighborhood, have come fifteen 
Sabbaths successively upon the ice to our meeting." (Same, 
2 April.) 

A letter dated at New London, on the ninth of July, five days 
later than our day of Independence, says : " There is now at 
B2 



326 ANNALS OF LTNN— 1742, 1743, 1744. 

Lyme on the east side of Connecticut river, at a saw mill, a 
body of ice, as large as two carts can draw, clear and solid, and 
I believe might lay there a month longer, were it not that so 
many resort, out of curiosity, to drink punch made of it." (Same, 
27 July.) 

On the 17th of July, a mass of " snow congealed into ice," 
lay at Ipswich, " nearly four foot thick." (Same, 22 July.) 

'a difference had existed for several years, between Mr. Hench- 
man and his parish, in consequence of their refusal to make so 
large an addition as he desired to his salary, on which he declined 
to accept it. This year he offered to preach lectures to them 
gratuitously, for which he received their thanks, and an increase 
of his salary. 

Great commotions were excited in the neighboring towns, 
by Mr. Whitefield's preaching. In some places, meetings were 
held almost every evening ; and exhortations and prayers were 
offered by women and children, which had never before been 
done in New England. 

1742. 

The Rev. George Whitefield preached in Lynn. An evening 
meeting on the 11th of March, is thus noticed. '' This evening 
sundry young persons were struck, as they call it, in the reli- 
gious manner. This is the first of so in our town." (Collins.) 

On the 18th of June, Mr. Nathaniel Collins's house was struck 
by lightning. 

On the 12th of October, Mr. Jonathan Norwood fell from a 
fishing boat, near Nahant, and was taken up dead. 

17 4 3. 

[A memorandum, 27 June, says, " Multitudes of worms eat 
almost every green tiling in the ground."] 

On the 13th of July, Mr. Moses Norwood, of Lynn, was 
drowned at Boston. 

1744. 

On Sunday morning, June 3d., there was an earthquake, suffi- 
ciently violent to throw down stone wall. It was repeated on 
the 20th. (Collins.) 

On the 14th, a small company of men were impressed, to be 
sent, with other troops from Massachusetts, against the French 
and Indians, who were making depredations on the northern 
frontier. The town was furnished with a stock of powder, 
which was stored in a closet beneath the pulpit of the first 
parish meeting-house. 

On the 31st of December, Mr. Theophilus Merriam was found 
dead on the ice, on Saugus river. 



ANUALS OP LYNN — 1745, 1746. 327 



1745. 

On the eveninf^ of March 9th, there was a night arch. 
Rev. George Whitefield came to Lynn, on the 3d of July, and 
requested Mr. Henchman's permission to preach in his meeting- 
house, which was refused. iSome of the people resolved that 
he should have liberty to preach ; and taking the great doors 
from Mr. Theophilus Hallowell's barn, and placing them upon 
some barrels, they made a stage, on the eastern part of the 
Common, from which he delivered his address. [The barn 
alluded to was an outbuilding belonging to the Hallowell house, 
which still stands on North Common street, the second east 

, from St. Stephen's church. It did not then belong to Mr. 

i Hallowell, who was not born till 1750, but to Benjamin Newhall, 
who built the house, and whose daughter Mr. Hallowell, many 
years after, married. Mr. Newhall was town clerk, and died 
during the Revolution.] Mr. Whitefield also delivered a dis- 
course, standing on the platform of the whipping-post, near the 
first parish meeting-house. On the first application and refusal, 
Mr. Henchman addressed a letter, in a printed pamphlet, to the 
Rev. Stephen Cliase, of Lynnfield, containing reasons for declin- 
ing to admit Mr. Whitefield into his pulpit. Some of these 
reasons were that Mr. Whitefield had disregarded and violated 
the most solemn vow, which he took when he received orders 
in the Church of England, and pledged himself to advocate and 
maintain her discipline and doctrine — that he had intruded into 
places where regular churches were established — that he used 
vain boasting, and theatrical gestures, to gain applause — that 
he countenanced screaming, trances, and epileptic fallings — that 
he had defamed the character of Bishop Tillotson, and slandered 
the colleges of New England. To this letter, Mr. William Hob- 
by, minister of Reading, made a reply; and Mr. Henchman 
rejoined in a second letter. The controversy extended through- 
out New England"; and many pamphlets were Avritten, both for 
and against Mr. Whitefield. Some good seems to have been 
done by him, in awakening the people to a higher sense of the 
importance of piety ; but seeking only to awaken them, and not 
direct them to the Church, of which he was a minister, they 
were left to form new separations, and to build up other sys- 
tems of faith. 

1746. 

A packet schooner, commanded by Capt. Hugh Alley, passed 
from Lynn to Boston. It continued to sail for many years, and 
was a great convenience. 

On the 18th of August, there was a frost, sufficient to damage 



the 



corn. 



328 AiTNALS OP LYKN — 1747, 1749, 1750. 



1747. 

The Rev. Edward Cheever relinqnisbed his connection with 
the third parish, of which he had been minister for eight 
years. He was a son of Mr. Thomas Cheever, of Lynn, and 
was born May 2, 1717. He graduated at Harvard College, in 
1737, and was ordained in 1739. He removed to Eastham, where 
he died, August 24, 1794, aged 77 years. 

1749. 

The drought of this summer was probably never exceeded in 
New England. The preceding year had been unusually dry, 
but this was excessively so. There was but little rain from the 
6th of May to the 6th of July. A memorandum on the 18th of 
July, by Collins, says : ^' Extreme hot dry weather, such as has 
not been known in the memory of man — so scorched that the 
creatures can but just live for the want of grass." The effect 
of the drought was so great, that hay was imported from England. 
Immense multitudes of grasshoppers appeared. They were so 
plenty on Nahaut, that the inhabitants walked together, with 
bushes in their hands, and drove them, by thousands, into the 
sea. [And this is the year in which it is said the good bishop 
of Lausanne pronounced the frightful sentence of excommunica- 
tion against caterpillars.] 

1750. 

John Adam Dagyr, a shoemaker, from Wales, came to Lynn. 
He was one of the best workmen for ladies' shoes, who had 
ever appeared in the town. At the time of his arrival, the 
business of shoemaking at Lynn was very limited, and the 
workmen unskillful. There were but three men who conducted 
the business so extensively as to employ journeymen. These 
were John Mansfield, Benjamin Newhall, and William Gray, 
grandfather of William Gray, Lieutenant Governor of Massachu- 
setts. The workmen had frequently obtained good shoes from 
England, and taken them to pieces, to discover how they were 
made. By the instruction of Mr. Dagyr, they were soon enabled 
to produce shoes nearly equal to the best imported from Eng- 
land. Shoemakers, from all parts of the town, went to him for 
information; and he is called, in the Boston Gazette of 1764, 
" the celebrated shoemaker of Essex." He resided on Boston 
street, not far from the foot of Mall. He married Susanna New- 
hall, in 1761, and had three children, Caroline, Sarah, and Joseph. 
Like many who have consulted the public interest more than 
their own, he was poor, and died in the Lynn alms-house, in 
1808. 

[Quite an excitement prevailed regarding the' raising of silk- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1751, 1752, 1753, 1755. 329 

worms and manufacture of silk; but it died away without im- 
portant results. Numerous mulberry trees, however, were 
planted, Avhich continued to yield their delicate fruit, for many 
years.] 

On the night of July 2, Mr. Robert Mansfield's house, near the 
Flax pond, was struck by lightning. 

1751. 

On the 8th of February, Capt. Benjamin Blaney, of Swampscot, 
fell from his horse, at Maiden, and was taken up dead. 

[On the 10th of April, there was so great a snow storm that 
the fences were covered. It was thought to have been the 
greatest since 1717.] 

17 5 2. 

Rev. Joseph Roby was ordained minister of the third parish, 
now Saugus, in August. 

The school house was removed from Water Hill, to its former 
place in Franklin street, on the 29th of September ; and on the 
27th of November, it was again removed to the eastern part 
of the Common. 

The selectmen were allowed two shillings a day for their 
services. 

Dr. Nathaniel Henchman was schoolmaster. 

1753. 

Many sheep having been killed by wild animals, the people 
assembled, on the 6th of August, and ranged through the woods, 
to kill the wolves and foxes. On the 27th, a great number 
of the inhabitants of Lynn, Salem, and Reading, met and spent 
the day, in endeavoring to clear the forest of them, 

[The General Court this year ordered that all persons having 
barberry bushes growing on their lands, should extirpate them 
before the 10th of June, 1760. And the surveyors of highways 
were required to destroy all growing by the roadside within 
the specified time, or the towns should pay two shillings for 
every one left standing. The reasons for this order were that 
those bushes had so much increased that the pasture lands 
were greatly encumbered ; and it was imagined that something 
"flew off" from them that blasted the English grain. 

17 5 5. 

A shop, on the Common, belonging to Mr. Benjamin James, 
was burnt, on the 4th of February. On the 24th, a schooner, 
from Salem, was cast away on Short Beach, at Nahant. (Collins.) • 

On Sunday, April 27th, the Society of Friends, for the first 
time, had two meetings in one day. (Collins.) 
B2* 



330 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1756. 

"Rev. Stephen Chase, resigned the care of the second parish, 
now Lynufield, He graduated at Harvard University, in 1728, 
and was ordained November 24, 1731. He married Jane Win- 
get, of Hampton, in 1732 ; and liis children, born at Lynn, were, 
Abraham, Stephen, Jane, Stephen, second, and Mary. He re- 
moved to Newcastle, in New Hampshire, where he settled and 
died. 

Mr. Benjamin Adams, was installed minister of the second 
parish, on the 5th of November. 

The greatest earthquake ever known in New England, hap- 
pened on Tuesday, the 18th of November, at fifteen minutes 
after four, in the morning. It continued about four minutes. 
Walls and chimneys were thrown down, and clocks stopped. 
On the following Saturday, there was another earthquake. (Col- 
lins.) On the first of this month Lisbon was destroyed. [It 
was very destructive, from Maryland to Halifax, in many places. 
More than fifteen hundred chimneys were thrown down or shat- 
tered, in Boston ; some twelve brick houses had their gables 
thrown down ; and the spindle of the vane on the market house 
was broken ofi^. It does not appear that any greater damage 
was done in Lynn than the injuries to walls and chimneys. Its 
direction seemed to be from the northwest. In the West Indies 
the sea rose six feet, having first subsided, leaving the vessels 
dry at the wharves. In this vicinity the air was calm, the sky 
clear, and a bright moon shining ; but the sea was roaring in a 
portentous manner.] 

A whale, seventy-five feet in length, was landed on King'a 
Beach, on the 9th of December. Dr. Henry Burchsted rode 
into his mouth, in a chair drawn by a horse ; and afterward had 
two of his bones set up for gate posts, at his house in Essex 
street, where they stood for more than fifty years. [Opposite 
the Doctor's house, the cot of Moll Pitcher, the celebrated for- 
tune teller, stood. And many were the sly inquiries, from 
strangers, for the place where the big whale bones were to be 
seen.] 

In the eastern French and Indian war. Governor Lawrence, 
of Nova Scotia sent to Massachusetts, in the course of two 
years, about 2000 French Catholic Neutrals, who were quar- 
tered in different places. Lynn had fourteen. Thomas Lewis 
supplied them with provisions ; and among the items of his bill 
are 432 quarts of milk, at six pence a gallon. The war continued 
until 1763. 

1756. 

, The manuscript of Dr. John Perkins gives a ]opg and partic- 
ular relation of a singular encounter of wit, had between Jona- 
than Gowen, of Lynn, and Joseph Emerson, of Reading. They 



ANNALS OF LYNN— 1757, 1758. 331 

met, by appointment, at the tavern in Saugus, and so great was 
the number of people, that they removed to an adjacent field. 
The Reading champion was foiled, and went home in great 
chagrin. Dr. Perkins says that the exercise of Go wen's wit 
" was beyond all human imagination." But he afterward fell 
iyto such stupidity, that the expression became proverbial — 
" You are as dull as Jonathan Gowen," [The championship, in 
such an exercise, is much more worthy of being striven for 
than the championship in those pugilistic encounters which 
are the delight of this refined age. But a bloody nose is more 
eaaily appreciated by most people than an intellectual achieve- 
ment.] 

1757. 

There was an earthquake on the 8th of July, at fifteen minutes 
after two o'clock. (Collins.) [A witness says of this earth- 
quake, " it seemed as though some small body was swiftly roll- 
ing along under the earth, which gently raised up that part 
of the surface that was over it, and then left it as gently to 
subside."] 

On the Gth of February, two merchant vessels, from London, 
valued at one hundred thousand pounds, were wrecked on Lynn 
Beach. 

On the afternoon of Sunday, August 14, the people were 
alarmed, during meeting time, by the beating of drums;, and on 
the nest day, twenty men were impressed, and marched to 
Springfield. (Pratt.) 

On the 6th of December, Lord Loudon's regiment, in march- 
ing through Woodend, took a boy named Nathaniel Low, living 
with Mr. Zaccheus Collins. His master followed the regiment 
into Marblehead, and on his solicitation, being a Quaker, the 
boy was released. This regiment had for some time been 
quartered in Boston, where Lord Loudon sported his coach and 
six horses. (Collins.) [The regiment is judged to have been 
a rather unruly one, from the frequent complaints made by the 
citizens.] ^ 

1758. 

Thomas Mansfield, Esq., was thrown from his horse, on Friday, 
January 6, and died the next Sunday. 

A company of soldiers, from Lynn, marched for Canada, on 
the twent^^-third of May. Edmund Ingalls and Samuel Mudge 
were killed. 

In a thunder shower, on the 4th of August, an ox, belonging 
to Mr. Henry Silsbe, was killed by lightning, , 

A sloop from Lynn, commanded by Capt. Ralph Lindsey, was 
cast away, on the 15th of August, near Portsmouth. 



332 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1759, 1761. 



1759. 

[A bear, weighing four hundred pounds, was killed in Lynn 
woods, this year. 

[The Lynnfield church records state the death, 4 June, of 
Margaret, wife of John Briant, of " something supposed to 
breed in her brain." 

[Rev. Jacob Bailey, a Church of England missionary, on the 
13th of December, having walked all the way from Gloucester 
to L3'nn, stopped at Norwood's tavern for lodging. And in 
speaking of the company found there he saj^s : *' We had among 
us a soldier belonging to Capt. Hazen's company of rangers, 
who declared that several Frenchmen were barbarously mur- 
dered by them, after quarters were given ; and the villain added, 
I suppose to show his importance, that he split the head of one 
asunder, after he fell on his knees to implore mercy."] 

1761. 

The Rev. Nathaniel Henchman was a son of Mr. Nathaniel 
Henchman, a bookbinder, and deacon of a church, in Boston. 
He was born on the 22d of November, 1700, according to a 
statement on the Lynn records, in the hand writing of his son, 
though some other records give a different date. He graduated 
at Harvard University, in 1717, and was ordained minister of 
tbe first parish of Lynn, in December, 1720. His residence 
was on North Common street, between Mall and Park streets. 
The house which he built was, till within a short time of its 
removal, in 1855, owned by Mr. George Brackett, and now 
stands on the west side of Park street, a few rods south of the 
brook.] Mr. Henchman died on the twenty-third day of De- 
cember, 1761, aged 61, having preached forty-one years. In the 
early part of his ministry, he enjoyed the esteem and confidence 
of his people. His learning was extensive, and his integrity 
and virtue entitled him to high respect. He was strongly at- 
tached to regularity and order, and disinclined to every species 
of enthusiasm. He thought the services of the Sabbath, in 
general, were sufficient, and was decidedly opposed to evening 
meetings. By his omitting to deliver lectures, and refusing to 
admit itinerant preachers into his pulpit, disaffections were cre- 
ated, which deprived him of the regard of many of his people. 
The occasion of these difficulties is to be imputed to the opinions 
of the time, rather than to any want of urbanity on the part of 
Mr. Henchman, who was very affable in his manners, and treated 
Mr. Whitefield with great civility and respect in his own house, 
and invited him to remain longer, as appears by Whitefield's 
Journal and Dr. Wigglesworth's Letter. Mr. Henchman pub- 
lished the following pamphlets. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1763. 333 

1. Reasons for Declinins: to Admit Mr. "Whitefield into big 
Pulpit; addressed to the Rev. Stephen Chase, of Lynnfield. 
Boston, 1744, 8vo. 

2. A Letter to Rev. William Hobby of Reading, in Reply to 
his Vindication of Mr. Whitefield. Boston, 1745, 4to. 

The following epitaph was written for Mr. Henchman. 

Three times aloud the summons hath been blown, 
To call Lynn's watclinien to the hijrhest throne. 
First VViiitinji left the church her loss to weep ; 
Then Shepanl next resigned his peaceful sheep ; 
Our other shepherd now gives up tlie trust, 
And leaves his charge to slumber in the dust. 
A few fleet years, and tlie last tnmip will sound, 
To call our Henchman from the silent ground.* 
Then we who wake, and they who sleep must come, 
To hear the Judge pronounce the righteous doom. 

Mr. Henchman had two wives: 1. Deborah Walker, in 1727, 
and, 2. Lydia Lewis, in 1734. He had five children. 1. Dr. 
Nathaniel, born April 1, 1728, graduated at Harvard University 
in 1747, was town clerk of Lynn for two years, and died May 
30, 1767, aged 39. 2. Daniel. 3. Anna. 4. Lydia. 5. Anna. 

On the 12th of March, at twenty minutes after two, in the 
morning, there was an earthquake ; and on the first of Novem- 
ber, between eight and nine in the evening, another. (Collins.) 

On the 20th of April, John Stavers commenced running a 
stage from Portsmouth to Boston. It was a curricle, drawn by 
two horses, and had seats for three persons. It left Portsmouth 
on Monday morning, stopped the first night at Ipswich, and 
reached the ferry the next afternoon. It returned on Thursday 
morning, and reached Portsmouth on Friday. The fare was 
thirteen shillings and six pence. This was the first stage in 
New England. 

[Hon. Ebenezer Burrill died, 6 September, aged 82. He was 
a conspicuous and useful man in the province. A brief bio- 
graphical sketch of him may be found elsewhere in this volume.] 

1763. 

Mr. John Treadwell was ordained minister of the first parish, 
on the 2d of March. 

There was at this time in the town a man named Robert 
Bates, who had such a facility for rhyming that he usually made 
his answers in that manner. Many of these have been related, 
but I only notice one. The tax gatherer called on him one day, 
and addressed him thus : " Mr. Bates, can you pay your rates ? " 
to which he replied : '* My dear honey, I have no money ; I 

* The word " henchman " signifies a warder or watchman. [It now signi- 
fies rather a page, an attendant, one who waits on the person.] 



334 AJWALS OF LYNN — 1764, 1765, 1766. 

can't pay you now, unless I sell my cow ; I will pay you half, 
when I kill my calf; but if you'll wait till fall, I'll pay you all." 

1764. 

The Boston Gazette, of October 21, says: "It is certain that 
women's shoes, made at Lynn, do now exceed those usually 
imported, in strength and beauty, but not in price. Surely 
then, it is expected, the public spirited ladies of the town and 
province will turn their immediate attention to this branch of 
manufacture." 

[The bridge over Saugus river was rebuilt this year, the 
county bearing two thirds of the expense.] 

December 28. Mr. Robert Wait was found dead on the 
marsh, near Saugus river. . ' 

1765. 

Among the encroachments of the arbitrary power of the 
mother country, was the attempt to impose taxes upon the 
colonies without their consent. Those taxes were at first 
levied in the form of duties ; but the people objected to this 
incipient plan of raising a revenue for the support of a govern- 
ment in which they had no action' and tlieir opposition eventu- 
ated in the establishment of their independence. 

This year an act was passed by the Parliament of England, 
called the Stamp Act, requiring the people of the American 
colonies to employ papers stamped with the royal seal, in all 
mercantile and legal transactions. This act called forth a gen- 
eral spirit of opposition, particularly in Boston, where, on the 
night of the 26th of August, a party of the people collected, 
and nearly demolished the house of Lieutenant Governor Hutch- 
inson, and several others. In many other places the people 
manifested their displeasure, by tolling bells, and burning the 
efiSgies of the stamp officers. 

1766. 

This year the stamp act was repealed. The people of Lynu 
manifested their joy by ringing the bell and making bonfires. 
On the first of December, they directed their representative, 
Ebenezer Bnrrill, Esquire, to use his endeavors to procure an 
act to compensate j\Ir. Hutchinson, and others, for their losses in 
the riot of the preceding year. 

[Ebenezer Mansfield, of Lynnfield, aged 18, dropped down 
dead in the street, on the 10th of January. And Ensign Ebe- 
nezer Newhall, of the same place, died on the 22d of June, aged 
73, " of sometliing supposed to breed within him."] 

On Saturday, the 8th of February, an English brig, from Hull, 
was cast away on Pond Beach, on the south side of Nahant. 



ANNALS OF LYNN— 17G8, ITOO, 1770. 335 



1768. 

[There were made in Lynn, during the year ending 1 January, 
80.000 pairs of shoes, as appears by a statement in the Boston 
Palladium, of the Gth of February, 1827. 

[At half past nine, on the evening of the Gth of August, the 
aurora borealis appeared in a complete arch, extending from 
the northwest to the southeast, and ''almost as bright as a 
rainbow." This must have been similar to the remarkable 
appearance on the night of 28 August, 1827.] 
, On the 7th of November, John Wellman and Young Flint 
•were drowned in the Pines river, and their bodies taken up 
the next day. 

A catamount was killed by Joseph Williams, in Lynn woods. 

1769. 

A snow storm on the 11th of May, continued twelve hours. 

On Wednesday evening, July 19, a beautiful night arch ap- 
peared. It was widest in the zenith, and terminated in a point 
at each horizon. The color was a brilliant white, and it con- 
tinued most of the evening. 

On the 8th of August, as a party were going on board a 
schooner, in the harbor, for a sail of pleasure, the canoe, in 
which were six women and two men, was overset, and two of 
the party drowned. These were Anna Hood, aged 23, daughter 
of Benjamin Hood, and Alice Bassett, aged 17, daughter of 
Daniel Bassett. 

In a very great storm, on the 8th of September, several 
buildings were blown down, and a sloop driven ashore at 
Nahant. 

1770. 

After the repeal of the stamp act, the English Parliament, in 
1767, passed an act imposing duties on imported paper, glass, 
paints and tea. This again awakened the opposition of the 
colonies. The General Court of Massachusetts, in 17G8, pub- 
lished a letter, expressing their firm loyalty to the king, yet 
their _ unwillingness to submit to any acts of legislative op- 
pression. This letter displeased the English government, the 
General Court was dissolved, and seven armed vessels, with 
soldiers, were sent from Halifax to Boston, to ensure tranquil- 
lity. On the 5th of March, 1770, a part of these troops, being 
assaulted by some of the people of Boston, fired upon them, 
and killed four men. The soldiers were imprisoned, tried, and 
acquitted. 

On the 12th of April, the duties on paper, glass, and paints, 
were repealed ; but the duty on tea, which was three pence on 



336 ANNALS OP LYNN— 1772. 

a pound, remained. On the 24th of May, the inhabitants of 
Lynn held a meeting, in which they passed the following reso- 
lutions. 

1. Voted, We will do our endeavor to discountenance the use of foreign 
tea. 

2. Voted, No person to sustain any office of profit, that will not comply 
with the above vote. 

3. Voted, No taverner or retailer shall be returned to sessions, that will 
not assist in discountenancing the use of said tea ; and the selectmen to give 
it as a reason to the sessions. 

4. Voted, unanimously, That we will use our endeavors to promote our 
own manufactures amongst us. 

The disaffection against the English government, appears to 
have been occasioned, not so much by the amount of the duty 
on the tea, as by the right which it implied in that government 
to tax the people of America without their consent. The 
colonies had always admitted their allegiance to the English 
crown ; but as they had no voice in parliament, it was ungen- 
erous, if not unjust, in that parliament, to impose any taxes 
which were not necessary for their immediate benefit. 

[Canker worms committed great ravages this year.] 

A great storm, on the 19th of October, raised the tide higher 
than had been known for many years. 

[A disease among potatoes prevailed extensively this year. 
It appears to have been similar to that which began to prevail 
in this vicinity about the year 1850, and has shown itself in a 
greater or less degree every year since — called the potato rot.] 

' 1772. 

Mr. Sparhawk, of Lynnfield, in his diary, thus remarks : " An 
amazing quantity of snow fell in the month of March, such as I 
never knew in the time that I have lived." On the 5th of 
Mvirch, the amount of snow which fell, was sixteen inches ; on 
the 9th, nine inches; on the 11th, eight inches; on the 13th, 
seven inches ; on the 16th, four inches ; and on the 20th, fifteen 
inches. Thus the whole amount of snow, in sixteen days, was 
nearly five feet on a level. [On the second Frida}' of April, a 
violent snow storm occurred. In some places the snow drifted 
to the depth of twelve feet,] 

A fishing schooner was wrecked on Long Beach, on the 21st 
of March, and Jonathan Collins and William Boynton, the only 
two men on board, were drowned. 

On the 15th of May, Abigail Rhodes, a daughter of Mr. Eleazer 
Rhodes, was lost. On the 24th, a great number of people went 
in search of her, in vain. On the second of June, another gen- 
eral search was made ; and on the 21st of July, her bones were 
found in a swamp near the Pirates' Glen. There were strong 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1773. 337 

suspicions of unfairness in regard to her death. She loft a 
house in Boston street, in the evening, to return to a cottage 
in the forest, where she had been living, and was seen no more 
alive. Several persons were apprehened on suspicion, but as 
only circumstantial evidence was elicited, they were discharged. 

17 7 3. 

The opposition to the duty on tea continued unremitted. 
The East India Company sent many cargoes to America, offering 
to sell it at a reduced price ; but the people resolved that it 
should not be landed. Seventeen men, dressed like Indians, 
went on board the vessels in Boston harbor, broke open three 
hundred and forty two chests of tea, and poured their contents 
into the water. 

A town meeting was held at Lynn, on the 16th of December, 
in which the following resolutions were passed. 

1. That the people of the British American Colonies, by their constitution 
of government, have a right to freedom, and an exemption from eveiy degree 
of oppression and slavery. 

2. That it is an essential right of freemen to have the disposal of their 
own property, and not to be taxed by any power over which they have no 
control. 

3. That the parliamentary duty laid ypon tea landed in America, is,, in fact, 
a tax upon Americans, without tlieir consent. 

4. That the late act of parliament, allowing the East India Company to 
Bend their tea to America, on their own account, Avas artfully framed, for the 
purpose of enforcing and canying into effect the oppressive act of parlia- 
ment imposing a duty upon teas imported into America; and is a fresli proof 
of the settled and determined designs of the ministers to deprive us of liberty, 
and reduce us to slaveiy. 

5. Tliat we Inghly disapprove of the landing and selling of such teas in 
America, and will not suffer any teas, subjected to a parliamentary duty, to be 
landed or sold in this town : and that Ave stand ready to assist our brethren 
of Boston, or elsewhere, whenever our aid shall be required, in repelling all 
attempts to land or sell any teas poisoned with a duty. 

The tea fever raged very high at this time, especially among 
the ladies. A report having been put in circulation through the 
town, that Mr. James Bowler, Avho had a bake-house and a 
little shop, on Water Hill, had a quantity of tea in store, a com- 
pany of women went to his house, demanded the tea, and 
destroyed it. This exploit was certainly as great a piece of 
patriotism on their part, as that performed in Boston harbor the 
same year, and deserves to be sung in strains of immortality. 
Slander, however, who is always busy in detracting from real 
merit, asserted that the women put on extra pockets on that 
memorable night, which they filled with the fragrant leaf, for 
their own private consumption. 

A deer was this year started in the Maiden woods, and chased 
by some hunters, through Chelsea, to the Lynn marsh. He 
C2 22 



338 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1774, 1775. 

plunged into the Saugus river, and attempted to gain the oppo- 
site shore ; but some Lynn people, coming down the river in a 
boat, approached and throwing a rope over his horns, brought 
him ashore at High Point. 

1774. 

The destruction of the tea at Boston, gave great offence to the 
English government, and an act was passed, by which the harbor 
of Boston was closed against the entrance or departure of any 
vessels. The inhabitants of Lynn held several meetings, in 
which they expressed their disapprobation of the shutting of 
the port of Boston, and their abhorrence of every species of 
tyi'anny and oppression. 

On the 7th of October, a congress of delegates from the 
several towns of Massachusetts, assembled at Salem, to consider 
the state of affairs. The delegates from Lynn were Ebenezer 
Burrill, Esq., and Capt. John Mansfield. They made addresses 
to Governor Gage, and to the clergy of the province, chose a 
committee of safety, and recommended measures for the regula- 
tion of the pubhc conduct. [Governor Gage, in fact, called 
this assembly, as a regular General Court, though he afterward 
rescinded his call. But they convened, and pYesently resolved 
themselves into what was esselftially a provincial congress.] 

The night of October 25th was one of surpassing splendor. 
The northern lights cast a luminous night arch across the hear 
vens, from the eastern to the western horizon. 

1775. 

On the morning of "Wednesday, the 19th of April, the inhabit- 
ants of L}Tin were awakened, by the information that a detach- 
ment of about eight hundred troops, had left Boston, in the 
night, and were proceeding toward Concord. On receiving 
the intelligence that the troops had left Boston, many of the 
inhabtants of Lynn immediately set out, without waiting to 
be organized, and with such weapons as they could most readily 
procure. One man, with whom I was acquainted, had no other 
equipments than a long fowling-piece, without a bayonet, a 
horn of powder, and a seal-skin pouch, filled with bullets and 
buck shot. The English troops arrived at Lexington, a little 
before five in the morning, where they fired upon the inhabitants, 
assembled in arms before the meeting-house, and killed eight 
men. They then proceeded to Concord, where they destroyed 
some military stores ; but being opposed by the militia, they 
soon began to retreat. The people from Lynn met them at 
Lexington, on their return, and joined in firing at them from the 
walls and fences. In one instance, says my informant, an Eng- 
lish soldier coming out of a house, was met by the owner. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1775. 339 

They leveled their pieces at each other, and firing at the same 
instant, both fell dead. The English had sixty-five men killed, 
the Americans fifty. Among these were four men from Lynn, 
who fell in Lexington. 

L Mr. Abednego Ramsdell. He was a son of Noah Ramsdell, 
and was burn 11 September, 1750. He had two brothers, older 
than himself, whose names were Shadrach and Meshech. He 
married Hannah Woodbury, 11 March, 1774, and resided in the 
eastern part of Essex street. He had gone out early on that 
morning to the sea shore, with his gun, and had killed a couple 
of black ducks, and was returning with them, when he heard 
the alarm. He immediately threw down the birds, and set off. 
He was seen passing through the town, running in haste, with 
his stockings fallen over his shoes. He arrived at Lexington 
about the middle of the day, and fell immediately. 

2. Mr. William Flint. He married Sarah Larrabee, 5 June, 
1770. 

3. Mr. Thomas Hadley. His wife, Rebecca, was drowned, at 
Lynnfield, in the stream above the mill pond, into which she 
probably fell, in attempting to cross it, on the 9th of January, 
1771. She had left her house to visit an acquaintance, and 
not returning, was searched for. On the 26th her body was 
found. 

4. Mr, Daniel Townsend. He was born 26 December, 1738. 
A stone has been erected to his memory, at Lynnfield, with the 
following inscription. 

Lie, valiant Townsend, in the peaceful shades; we tinist, 

Immortal lienors mingle with thy dust. 

What though thy body struggled in its gore ? 

So did thy Saviour's body, long before ; 

And as he raised his own, by power divine, 

So the same power shall also quicken thine, 

And in elcrnal glory mayst thou shine. 

[He left a wife and five young children. The Essex Gazette, 
of 2 May, in a brief obituary, speaks of him as having been a 
constant and ready friend to the poor and afflicted ; a good 
adviser in cases of difficulty ; a mild, sincere, and able reprover. 
In short, it adds, " he was a friend to his country, a blessing to 
society, and an ornament to the church of which he was a 
member." And then are added, as original, the lines given 
above. The obituary notice and lines were probably written 
by some patriotic friend, the latter being transferred to the 
stone, when it was erected.] 

In the number of the wounded, was Timothy Munroe, of Lynn. 
He was standing behind a house, with Daniel Townsend, firing 
at the British troops, as they were coming down the road, in 
their retreat toward Boston. Townsend had just fired, and 



340 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1775. 

exclaimed, " There is another redcoat down," when Munroe, 
looking round, saw, to his astonishment, that they were com- 
pletely hemmed in by the flank guard of the British army, who 
were coming down through the fields behind them. They 
immediately ran into the house, and sought for the cellar ; but 
no cellar was there. They looked for a closet, but there was 
none. All this time, which was indeed but a moment, the balls 
were pouring through the back windows, making havoc of the 
glass. Townsend leaped through the end window, carrying the 
sash and all with him, and instantly fell dead. Munroe followed, 
and ran for his life. He passed for a long distance between 
both parties, many of whom discharged their guns at him. As 
he passed the last soldier, who stopped to fire, he heard the 
redcoat exclaim, " Damn the Yankee ! he is bullet proof — let 
him go ! " Mr. Munroe had one ball through his leg, and thirty- 
two bullet holes through his clothes and hat. Even the metal 
buttons of his waistcoat were shot off. He kept his clothes 
until he was tired of showing them, and died in 1808^, aged 72 
years. Mr. Joshua Felt was also wounded, and Josiah Breed 
was taken prisoner, but afterward released. 

[The battle of Lexington appears to have been sometimes 
called the battle of Menptomy, probably from the fact that the 
portion of Cambridge lying contiguous to Lexington, and in 
which a part of the battle was fought, was at that time called 
Menotomy — the same territory now constituting West Cam- 
bridge. Thus, in the Essex Gazette, of 8 June, appears the 
following advertisement: "Lost, in the battle of Menotomy, by 
Nathan Putnam, of Capt. Hutchinson's company, who was then 
badly wounded, a French firelock, marked D. No. 6, with a 
marking iron on the breech. Said Putnam carried it to a cross 
road near a mill. Whoever has said gun in possession, is de- 
sired to return it to Col. Mansfield, of Lynn, or to the selectmen 
of Danvers, and they shall be rewarded for their trouble."] 

The war was now begun in earnest. On the 23d of April, 
the people of Lynn chose a committee of safety, to consult 
measures of defense. This committee consisted of Rev. John 
Treadwell, minister of the first parish, Rev. Joseph Roby, 
minister of the third parish, and Deacon Daniel Mansfield. A 
company of alarm men was organized, under the command of 
Lieutenant Harris Chadwell. Three watches were stationed 
each night; one at Sagamore Hill, one at the south end of 
Shepard street, and one at Newhall's Landing, on Saugus river. 
No person was allowed to go out of the town without permission, 
and the people carried their arms to the place of public worship. 
Mr. Treadwell, always foremost in patriotic proceedings, ap- 
peared, on the Sabbath, with his cartridge box under one arm, 
and his sermon under the other, and went into the pulpit with 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1776. 341 

his musket loaded. [The Provincial Congress, in June, recom- 
mended the carrying of arms to meeting, on Sunda3's and otlier 
days when worship was held, by the men who lived within 
twenty miles of the sea coast.] 

On the 17th of June, was fought the memorable battle of 
Bunker Hill. The Lynn regiment was commanded by Colonel 
John Mansfield. The English, in the battle, lost two hundred 
and twenty-six men killed, and the Americans one hundred and 
thirty-nine. 

For many years the tavern in Saugus was kept by Zacchens 
Norwood, and after his death, by his widow, who married Josiah 
Martin, who then became landlord, as tavern keepers were then 
called. In 1775, he enlisted in the war, and Mr. Jacob Newhall 
then took the tavern, which he kept through the Revolution, 
and until the year 1807. 

1776. 

In January, the English troops were quartered at Boston, 
and the American at Cambridge, separated by Charles river. 
It was the intention of General Putnam to cross over to Boston, 
as soon as the river should become sufficiently frozen. Three 
of his soldiers, one of whom was Henry Hallowell, of Lynn, 
hearing of this design, set out to try the strength of the ice, by 
throwing a large stone before them. A party of about fifty of 
the English soldiers, on the opposite shore, commenced firing 
at them ; which they only regarded by mocking with their 
voices the noise of the bullets. They continued on the ice till 
the English party retired; when, thinking they had gone to 
procure a cannon, they returned, after picking up more than 
seventy balls on the ice, which they presented to General Put- 
nam, as trophies of their venturesome exploit. The soldiers 
from Lynn Avere under command of Capt. Ezra Newhall. 

On the 21st of May, the people of Lynn voted, that the min- 
isters should be invited to attend the annual town meetings, to 
begin them with prayer. I was once at the meeting of a town 
in New Hampshire, in which this practice prevails, and was 
convinced of its propriety. There are occasions on which 
prayer is made, which are of less apparent importance than the 
choice of men, to govern the town or commonwealth, and to 
make laws on which the welfare and perhaps the lives of the 
people may depend. 

A company of soldiers was furnished for an expedition to 
Canada. On the 2d of August, the town allowed them fifteen 
pounds each, and voted that ten pounds should be given to any 
person who would voluntarily enlist. 

An alarm was made, at midnight, that some of the English 
troops had landed on King's beach. In a short time the town 

\ C2* 



342 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1777. 

was all in commotion. Many persons left their houses and fled 
into the woods. Some families threw their plate into the wells, 
and several sick persons were removed. Some self-possession, 
however, was manifested. Mr. Frederick Breed, for his exer- 
tions in rallying the soldiers and marching them to Woodend, 
where he found the alarm to be false, received a commission in 
the army, and afterward rose to the rank of colonel. [There 
was a tavern kept in the old house now standing on Federal 
street, corner of Marion, by Increase Newhall. It was an alarm 
sta.tion ; that is, a place to which, when an alarm occurred, the 
enrolled men in the district instantly repaired for duty. At 
this King's beach alarm, it is said that the officer whose duty 
it was to take command, did not appear, and after the soldiers 
returned, all safe, he emerged from an oven, in which, panic- 
stricken, he had concealed himself.] 

1777. 

Rev. Benjamin Adams was born at Newbury, in the year 1719, 
and graduated at Harvard University, in 1738. He was ordained 
minister of the second parish, now Lynnfield, November 5, 1755, 
and died May 4, 1777, aged 58, having preached twenty-one 
years. He married Rebecca Nichols, and had seven children ; 
Rebecca, Dr. Benjamin, Elizabeth, Sarah, Ann, Joseph and Na- 
than ; the two latter being twins. 

[The Friends established a school in Lynn, this year. John 
Pope was master. 

[Vaccination was not practised at this time, and great fearsi 
were excited whenever the small pox made its appearance. It' 
was customary for companies to retire to convenient places, 
provide themselves with nurses and all things necessary, and 
then be inoculated with small pox. Taken in this way, the 
disease was thought to be milder. At all events, it was less 
likely to prove fatal, because of the more favorable circum- 
stances under which it might be had. The following memoran- 
dum relates to a Lynn company: "Lynn, May 14, 1777. There 
was a company of us went to Marbleliead to have the small pox. 
We had for our doctors, Benjamin B. Burchstead and Robert 
Deaverix, and for our nurse, Amos Breed. Hired a house 
of Gideon Phillips — viz. Abraham Breed, Jonathan Phillips, 
William Breed, Simeon Breed, Richard Pratt, jr., Nathan Breed, 
jr., Rufus Newhall, James Breed, jr., John Curtin, jr., James 
Pairne, jr., William Newhall, jr., David Lewis, Micajah Alley, 
Jabez Breed, jr., Micajah Newhall, Paul Farrington, Ebonezer 
Porter, William Johnson, Amos Newhall — making nineteen in 
the whole ; and all came home well." The above was copied 
from the original, which was handed to me, some thirty years 
ago, by the Richard Pratt, jr., whose name appears as one 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1780. 34.^ 

of the compan}'' ; and he assured me that he had carried the 
same in his pocket, from the day of its date — more than fifty- 
five years. It was accompanied by this certificate : " M'head, 
June 4th, 1777. By virtue of this certificate permitt y'= within 
mention'd person, after being smok'd, to pass y® guards. John 
Gerry."] 

In the winter of this year, John Lewis, aged 26, and Benja- 
min, aged 15, brothers, of Lynn, died on board the Jersey prison 
ship, in the harbor of New York. Their deaths were principally 
occasioned by severe treatment, and by unwholesome food pre- 
pared in copper vessels. 

17 8 0. 

The town of Lynn granted as much money as would purchase 
twenty-seven hundred silver dollars, to pay the soldiers. Within 
two years, the town granted seventy thousand pounds, old tenor, 
to defray their expenses. The principal money in circulation 
was the paper money issued by Congress, which had greatly 
depreciated. A soldier of the Revolution says, that in 1781, he 
sold seventeen hundred and eighty dollars of paper money, for 
thirty dollars in silver. 

The continental currency, as it was called, consisted of small 
pieces of paper, about two inches square. The one dollar bills 
had an altar, with the words, depressa resurgit, the oppressed 
rises. The two dollar bills bore a hand, making a circle with 
compasses, with the motto, trihulatio dital, trouble enriches. 
The device of the three dollar bills was an eagle pouncing upon 
a crane, who was biting the eagle's neck, witfi the motto, exitus 
in duhio, the event is doubtful. On the five dollar bills was a 
hand grasping a thorn bush with the inscription, siistine vel ah- 
stine, hold fast or touch not. The six dollar bills represented a 
beaver felling a tree, with the word ^^er.severancZo, by perseve- 
rance we prosper. Another emission bore an anchor, with the 
words. In fe Domlne speramus, In tliee. Lord, liave I trusted. 
The eight dollar bills, displayed a harp, with the motto, majora 
minorUms consonant, the great harmonize Avith the little. The 
thirty dollar bills exhibited a wreath on an altar, with the legend, 
si recte, fades, if you do right you will succeed. When I was 

J a child, I had thousands of dollars of this uncurrent money 

j given me to play with. 

The 19th of May was remarkable throughout New England 
for its uncommon darkness. It began about the hour of ten in 
the morning. At eleven, the darkness was so great, that the 
fowls retired to their roosts, and the cattle collected around the 
barns, as at night. Before twelve, candles became requisite, 
and many of the people of Lynn omitted their dinners, thinking 
that the day of judgment had come. The darkness increased 



344 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1780. 

through the evening, and continued till midnight. It was sup- 
posed by some, to have been occasioned by a smoke, arising 
from extensive fires in the western woods, and combining with 
a thick fog from the sea. The Rev. Mather Byles, of Boston, 
of punning memory, made a happy remark on this occasion. A 
lady sent her servant, in great alarm, to know if he could tell 
the cause of this great darkness. '' Tell your mistress," replied 
he, " that I am as much in the dark as she is." [A writer of the 
time says of the darkness of the succeeding, night, it " was prob- 
ably as gross as has ever been observed since the almighty fiat 
gave birth to light. It wanted only palpability to render it as 
extraordinary as that which overspread the land of Egypt in the 
days of Moses. ... A sheet of white paper held within a few 
inches of the eyes, was equally invisible with the blackest 
velvet."] 

The winter of 1780 was the coldest since 1741. [From about 
the 15th of February to the 15th of March, the snow and ice did 
not melt, even on the southerly sides of buildings, and teams 
could pass over walls and fences, so deep and hard was the 
snow.] 

At the commencement of the war, there were twenty-six 
slaves in Lynn; all of whom were made free this year. In 
1675, there was a slave in Lynn, named Domingo Wight, who 
had a wife and two children. Another slave, in 1714, named 
Simon Africanus, had a wife and six children. Zaccheus Collins 
had four slaves, whose names were Pharaoh, Essex, Prince, and 
Cato. Prince was purchased at Boston, in 1746, for seventy-five 
dollars. In 1757, he married Venus, a slave to Zaccheus Gould. 
Joshua Cheever had a slave named Gift, whom he freed in 1756, 
at the solicitation of Hannah Perkins, who became his wife in 
1745, on condition that he should free his slave at the age of 
twenty-five years. John Bassett had a slave, named Samson, 
whom he liberated in 1776, because " all nations were made of 
one blood." Thomas Chee^'-er had two slaves, Reading and 
Jane, who were married in 1760. Samuel Johnson had two 
slaves, Adam, who married Dinah, in 1766. Thomas Mansfield 
had two slaves, one of whom, named Pompey, had been a prince 
in Africa ; and, after his liberation, lived in the forest on the 
east of Saugus river. For many years, the slaves in all the 
neighboring towns used to have a holiday allowed them once a 
year, to visit King Pompey ; and doubtless this was to them a 
day of real happiness. On the little glade by the river side, the 
maidens gathered flowers to crown their old king, and the men 
talked of the happy hours they had known on the banks of the 
Gambia. Hannibal, a slave of John Lewis, was an example of 
the good efiects which education and good treatment may pro- 
duce in the colored people. He was brought from Africa when 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1781. 345 

a bov, and was treated rather as a servant than a slave. He 
married Phebe, a slave of Ebenezer Hawkes. By the indulgence 
of his master, and by working extra hours, he earned enough to 
purchase the freedom of three children, at forty dollars each ; 
but Phebe being a fliithful slave, her master would not part with 
her short of forty pounds; yet, with a motive of hope before 
him, Hannibal was not to be discouraged, and in a few years 
her purchase was accomplished, and his own freedom was given 
to him. He married in 1762, and had three sons and six daugh- 
ters. I have seldom known a more worthy family. Ebenezer 
Burrill had two slaves; Jedediah Collins, two ; Joseph Gould, 
two ; and James Phillips, Samuel Burrill, Theopliilus Burrill, 
Joseph Gaskins, Daniel Bassett, James Purinton, Ralph Lindsey, 
and Dr. Henry Burchsted, one slave each; being in all, with 
their children, about forty slaves. 

Rev. Joseph Mottey was ordained minister of the Lynnfield 
parish on the 24th of September. 

On the 29th of November there was an earthquake. 

Dr. John Perkins, of Lynnfield, died this year aged 85. His 
wife Clarissa died in 1749, and he wrote a poem on her death. 
He was a very eminent physician in his time, had studied two 
years in London, and practised physic forty years in Boston. 
In 1755, he published a tract on earthquakes; and also an essay 
on the small pox, in the London Magazine. He left a man- 
uscript of 368 pages, containing an account of his life and 
experience, which is preserved in the library of the American 
Antiquarian Society. 

1781. 

[Abner Cheever, Dr. John Flagg, and James Newhall, of Lynn, 
were commissioned as Justices of the Peace, on the 20th of 
September. This was the earliest date of any commission issued 
by Hancock, the first governor under the republican dispensa- 
tion, to any justice in this county. Mr. Newhall having been my 
grandfather, his commission fell into m}' hands, and has been pre- 
served with some care on account of the interesting autograph 
of Hancock which stands out with its usual boldness, indicative 
of the character so undismayed amid the prevailing convulsions. 
And it is rather a curious fact that in that very commission, 
the surname of the appointee is spelled in difierent ways, show- 
ing that even then people had not ceased to delight ift a diver- 
sified orthography. And their style was certainly, in several 
respects, more convenient than ours. Dictionaries were scarce, 
and it was useful in concealing; ignorance. ■ It also made the 
language more picturesque, in appearance at least. And it does 
not seem establisljed that more exactness in understanding is 
attained by our formal mode. Mr. Newhall lived in the house 



346 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1782. 

that yet stands on the northerly side of Boston street, opposite 
the termination of Summer. To the end of his life he was pop- 
ularly known as 'Squire Jim ; the appellation having been 
bestowed on account of his commission, and to distinguish 
him from six others of the same name who then lived in Lynn. 
The nicknames of those days were in some sense necessities, 
as middle names were not in use ; and the choice of them gen- 
erally had some reference to personal peculiarities, though they 
were often far from being dignified or select. But a word fur- 
ther on this, point may appear in another connection.] 

1782. 

Hev. John Treadwell relinquished the care of the first parish 
this year. He was born at Ipswich, September 20, 1738; and 
was ordained at Lynn, March 2, 17G3, wliere he preached nine- 
teen years. He returned to Ipswich, and in 1787, removed to 
Salem. [He graduated at Harvard College, in 1758. After 
returning to Ipswich, he taught the grammar school there, for 
two years, before going to Salem.] He was representative 
of Ipswich and Salem, a senator of Essex county, and judge 
of the court of common pleas. In 1763, he married Mehetabel 
Dexter, a descendant of Thomas Dexter, who bought Nahant. 
He had a son, John Dexter Treadwell, born in Lynn, May 29, 
1768, who became a highly respected physician at Salem. [Mr. 
Treadwell's daughter Mehetabel married Mr. Cleveland, city 
missionary of Boston; and professor C. D. Cleveland, the com- 
piler of numerous useful school books, was their son.] 

Mr. Treadwell was a great patriot, a member of the committee 
of safety, and foremost in all the proceedings of the town during 
the Revolution. It is perhaps somewhat of an anomaly in ethics, 
to find a minister of the gospel of peace bearing arms ; but the 
British were obnoxious to dissenters, from an opinion that they 
wished to establish the church in America. There has always 
been a prejudice in New England against the Episcopal Church, 
but there is abundant evidence that a man may be a good 
churchman and yet a true patriot. Washington and several 
other Presidents were members of the church and some of our 
most distinguished military and naval heroes have been church- 
men. 

Mr. Treadwell was very fond of indulging in sallies of wit: 
and like his namesake in Shakspeare, he was not only witty in 
himself, but the cause of wit in other men. One Sunday, ob- 
serving that many of his audience had their heads in a reclining 
posture, he paused in his sermon, and exclaimed, '"' I should 
guess that as many as two thirds of you are asleep ! " Mr. Jo- 
siah Martin, raising his head, looked round and replied, "If I 
were to guess, I should guess there are not more than one half I " 



ANNAiS OF LYNN — 1783. 347 

The next day Mr. Martin was brought up for disturbing divine 
service : but he contended " it was not the time of divine ser- 
vice ; the minister had ceased to preach, and it was guessing 
time." He was accordingly discharged. [This Josiah Martin 
who had the temerity to measure wit with Mr. Treadwell, was 
an eccentric and in some respects unworthy man. He was 
the immediate predecessor of Landlord Newhall in the old Sau- 
gus tavern, having married the widow of Zaccheus Norwood. 
He appeared in town about the year 17G0, and is supposed to 
have been an English adventurer. At times he assumed great 
polish of manner, and made pretension to extraordinary piety; 
and at other times he exhibited the characteristics and breeding 
of a gross villain. He was famous for indulging in practical 
jokes as well as witticisms, and in whimsical displays of every 
kind, with the only apparent object of eliciting the gaze of his 
neighbors. He is said, among other feats, to have ridden two 
miles, to attend meeting at the Old Tunnel, on a warm June 
day, in a double sleigh, with a span of horses, the dust flying 
and the runners grating horribly, and striking fire at every 
step. And his wife was a forced passenger at his side. He 
enlisted in the war, and never returned to Lynn.] 

On the night of the 18th of March, Dr. Jonathan Norwood 
fell from his horse, injuring himself so much as to cause hia 
death. He was a son of Zaccheus Norwood, born September 
19, 1751, and graduated at Harvard University, in 1771. He 
lived on the north side of the Common. 

[There was scarcely any corn or second crop of hay this year, 
on account of the drought.] 

1783. 

This year, the war, which had spread its gloom through the 
colonies for seven years, was terminated by a treaty of peace, 
signed on the third of September; and the then thirteen United 
States took their rank as an independent nation. The red 
cross banner of England was exchanged for a flag with thirteen 
stripes and thirteen stars ; and Americans now regard the people 
of England, like the rest of mankind — in war, enemies ; in peace, 
friends. 

With a few remarks respecting men and manners before the 
Eevolution, we will take our leave of the olden time. People 
were then generally a plain, plodding, go-a-foot, matter-of-fact 
sort of people. Rail roads and steam boats had not even been 
thought of; the stage-coach and the omnibus were unknown; 
and when something which was intended to answer the purpose 
of a coach at last appeared, it was a lumbering vehicle, drawn 
by two horses, passing through the town twice a week, in going 
to and returning from Boston. A few of the more wealthy 



34:8 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1783. 

farmers kept a chaise, or a chair, which was only " tackled " 
on Sundays, or perhaps once a month for a journey to a neigh- 
boring town. People walked, without thinking it a trouble, 
from three to six miles on Sunday to meeting; the firmer rode 
on horseback, taking his wife behind him ; and two or three 
spinsters of the family, or perhaps a young wife, followed in 
chairs placed in a horse-cart — for a four-wheeled wagon was 
unknown in the town for more than one hundred and forty 
years after its settlement ; and when Mr. Benjamin Newhall, 
about the year 1770, introduced the first ox wagon, it was 
humorously said, that his hired man had to drive down to the 
Common to turn it. The physician made his visits on horse- 
back, with his big saddle-bags on each side, stuffed with medi- 
caments — for an apothecary's shop was as rare as an opera 
house. There were no lectures, or lyceums, or libraries, or 
concerts in those days ; there were few excitements, for people 
had not leisure to promote them ; a reputation could not then 
be destroyed, as now, in a day, for they lived too remote for 
common slander — but when the spirit of invective and evil, 
which had been confined for sixty years, did at length break 
forth, as in the time of witchcraft, it was as if a mountain lake 
should suddenl}^ burst its cerements of porphyry, uprooting the 
finest trees, and bearing boulders of granite through the culti- 
vated valleys. 

Gentlemen, in those days, wore hats with broad brims, turned 
up into three corners, with loops at the sides ; long coats, with 
large pocket-folds and cuffs, and without collars. The buttons 
were commonly plated, but sometimes of silver, often as large 
as half a dollar. Shirts had bosoms and wrist-ruffles ; and all 
wore gold or silver shirt-buttons at the wrist, united by a link. 
The waistcoat w^as long, with large pockets ; and the neck-cloth 
or scarf, of fine white linen, or figured stuff, broidered, and the 
ends hanging loosely on the breast. The breeches were usually 
close, with silver buckles at the knees. The legs were covered 
with long gray stockings, which on holidays were exchanged 
for black or white silk. Boots, with broad white tops ; or shoes, 
with straps and large silver buckles, completed the equipment- 
Ladies wore caps, long stiff stays, and high heeled shoes. 
Their bonnets were of silk or satin, and usually black. Gowns 
were extremel}' long-waisted, with tight sleeves. Another fash- 
ion was, very short sleeves, with an immense frill at the elbow, 
leaving the rest of the arm naked. A large flexible hoop, three 
or four feet in diameter, was for some time quilted into the hem 
of the gown, making an immense display of the lower person. 
A long, round cushion, stuffed with cotton or hair, and covered 
with black crape, was laid across the head, over which the hair 
was combed back and fastened. It was almost the universal 



♦ 
ANNALS OP LYNN — 1784. 349 

custom, also, for women to wear gold beads — thirty-nine little 
hollow globes, about the size of a pea, strung on a thread, and 
tied round the neck. Sometimes this string would prove false 
to its trust — at an assembly, perhaps — and then, oh! such a 
time to gather them up, before they should be trampled on and 
ruined ! Working women wore petticoats and half gowns, 
drawn with a cord round the waist, and neats' leather shoes ; 
though they generally, throughout the country, had a pair of 
"Lynn shoes" for Sunday. Women did not " go a shopping" 
every day then; there were few shops to go to, and those con- 
tained only such articles as were indispensable, and in very 
limited variety. 

Those times had their benefits, but we would not wish their 
return. Nature brings not back the mastodon ; why, then, 
should we wish a recurrence of those gigantic days, which pro- 
duced great men in proportion to great evils. That the men 
were more honest and generous, or the women more amiable 
and virtuous then, is not to be contended. The charm about 
them consists chiefly in this, that they lived in the early period 
of our history — a period which will always be interesting — 
the records of which will be read with as much avidity a thou- 
sand years hence, as they are to-day. 

Ly^nn had 168 men in the Revolutionary War, of whom fifty- 
two were lost, besides the four men killed at Lexington. 

1784. 

The whole political course of our country has been changed 
by one great event. We are no longer the subjects of a foreign 
power. A new era has dawned upon us. The days of three- 
cornered hats and three-cornered swords are gone. Our govern- 
ors are no longer appointed in England ; our civil policy is no 
longer regulated by her laws. We stand alone, a nation among 
nations. Our thousands of little democracies, scattered through- 
out the wide extent of our almost boundless country, constitute 
one grand Republic, which is now trying, before the world, the 
great problem, whether a free people can govern themselves. 

For more than twenty years from the adoption of the state 
constitution, in 1780, the people of Lynn do not appear to have 
been much agitated by any conflict of political opinions. The 
insurrection in the central counties of Massachusetts, in 1786, 
was the first event which disturbed the public peace ; and in the 
following year, a company of twenty-three men from Lynn, went 
voluntarily to suppress the rebellion. The administration of the 
national government, from its commencement, in 1789, seems to 
have been generally approved, until the year 1794, when a treaty 
of amity was concluded with England, by John Jay, chief justice 
of the United States, with the sanction of President Washington. 
D2 



350 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1784. 

This treaty served to evince the existence throughout the Union 
of two great parties, who were separated by their different 
views of the nature and extent of republican government. One 
of these parties, denominated Federalists, contended that the 
President, with the consent of two thirds of the Senate, had 
the constitutional right, in the most extended sense, to make 
foreign alliances, on terms the most favorable to the public 
welfare. The other party, styled Democrats, considered this 
power to be so restricted, as not to infringe the particular 
rights of any State. The principle of one party had for its 
object, the greatest good of the greatest number — of the other, 
the greatest good of each individual. Both these parties were 
republican in their views ; and were undoubtedly influenced by 
a pure regard to the general good ; though they were recipro-. 
cally regarded as being hostile to it. ■* 

In 1781, all the votes in the town, which were forty-four, 
were given for John Hancock, the first governor under the new 
constitution. The smallest number was in 1784; when there 
were only twenty-seven votes for governor, and six for senators. 
There were, indeed, many more voters in the town, but they 
were so well satisfied with the wisdom of their rulers, that they 
gave themselves no anxiety on the subject. But causes of 
dissatisfaction gradually arose; and the spirit of party began to 
'be more plainly manifested in 1800, when there were one hun- 
dred and thirteen votes for Caleb Strong, the federal governor, 
and sixty-eight for Elbridge Gerry, the democratic candidate. 
The political excitement, however, appears to have been very 
small, and conducted altogether without animosity. There was 
but one list of senators brought forward till 1801, and the fed- 
eralists retained the ascendancy until 1804. After the death of 
Washington, and the elevation of Mr. Jefferson to the presiden- 
tial chair, the democrats in this town began more ostensibly to 
increase, and in 1804 manifested a decided superiorit3\ At the 
choice of governor, 145 votes were given for C^leb Strong, and 
272 for James Sullivan ; and this year, for the first time, a dem- 
ocratic representative was chosen. The parties now began to 
regard each other with manifestations of decided hostility, and 
the political arena presented a field of civil warfare without 
bloodshed. The most strenuous exertions were made by one 
party to maintain the ascendancy, and by the other to regain it. 
No man was permitted to remain neutral; and if any one, pre-, 
suming on his independence, ventured to form an opinion of his 
own, and to regard both parties as passing the bounds of mod- 
eration, he was regarded as an enemy by both. This rage of 
party continued several years, and was sometimes so violent as 
to be in danger of degenerating into animosity and personal 
hatred. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1786. 351 

[The mode of reckoning the currency at this period is illus- 
trated by a memorandum of Mr. Sparhawk, of Lynnfield, in an 
interleaved almanac "January y® 30th. Bought two piggs by 
y" hand of Mr. Reed, the barrow weighing 62 pounds, att five 
pence per pound . . . the other weighing 54 pounds att five 
pence per pound ; " the whole amounting to " two pound, 
eight shillings and two pence — which is eight dollars and two 
pence."] 

Rev. Obadiah Parsons was installed pastor of the first parish, 
on the 4th of February. [The following is another almanac 
.memorandum of Mr. Sparhawk: "Feb. y*' 4th. Then was In- 
*stalled, att y^ Old Parish, in Lynn, Mr. Obadiah Parsons. Y° 
Revnd mr. Cleaveland of Ipswich began with prayer, y*' Revnd 
mr. Forbes of Capan preachd the sermon, y'^ Revnd rar Roby, 
of Lynn 3d parish, gave the charge, y® Revnd mr. Payson, of 
Chelsea, made the concluding prayer, and the Revnd mr. Smith, 
of Middleton, gave the right hand of fellowship. The gentleman 
above mentioned was settled in peace, harmony, and concord." 

[Still another memorandum of Mr. Sparhawk says : " From 
y® 14th of June untill the 13th of July, a very dry time. And 
upon y^ 14th of July, early in the morning, Jove thundered to 
the left and all Olympus trembled att his nod. The sun about 
an hour high; a beautiful refreshing shower. Again, July y® 15th, 
the latter part of y^ night, Jove thundered to the left, three times, 
and Olympus trembled. A shower followed."] 

On the 28th of October, General Lafayette passed through 
the town, on a visit to the eastward. 

[The Friends, who had been annually paying for the support 
of public schools, this year made request to have a portion 
refunded for the use of their own school. After considerable 
opposition the request was granted and an allowance annually 
made, for some years. 

[On the 26th of June, there was a remarkably high tide.] 

1786. 

In April, Benjamin Ingalls, in throwing an anchor from a boat 
in the harbor, was drawn overboard and drowned. 

[A town meeting was held on the 8th of May, at which John 
Carnes was chosen representative. And the matter of giving 
him special instructions was considered. It will be observed 
tliat the political elements Were at this time in an active state, 
and the most patriotic hearts, the wisest heads, and firmest 
hands were required in moulding them for the noblest purposes. 
A committee, consisting of Sylvanus Hussey, Col. John Mans- 
field, and Deacon Nathaniel Bancroft, was selected to draw up 
instructions. They produced the following, which were at once 
voted to be given: 



352 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1787. 

To Mr. John Carnes, chosen to represent the town of Lynn and the district 
of Lj^infield in General Court, the ensuing year: 

Sir : Our choice of you as Representative shews that we have put preat 
confidence in you. But to join our voice with that of many others, in order 
to save tlie pubHc, we would enjoin two things in particular upon you. The 
first is, That you would look into the grants of public salaries and other 
monies, and endeavor to prevent the laying of unnecessary burdens in this 
way. But at the same time let every one have an adequate reward for their 
sei-vices. The other injitiction is this. That you would endeavor to prevent 
the ruin of individuals and the public by endeavoring to bring about another 
mode of proceeding in our law matters and to put it out of the power of the 
gentlemen of the law to take such advantage of their clients as they have 
often done, and to put them to so much needless trouble and expense. And 
if it cannot be done in any other way, that you emleavor to bring about an 
annihilation of the office. But we woidd have you ui this and eveiy thing 
else to adhere strictly to the Constitution." 

[The first matter in these instructions was certainly important 
and well put. But the last savors of an unworthy antipathy to 
a class who probably did more than almost any other, to confirm 
our liberties and establish our institutions on a true and abiding 
foundation.] 

The first rock was split in L3mn, this year, by John Gore. 
Before this, the people had used rough rock for building. [Mr. 
Lewis must certainly be mistaken in this. Do not numerous 
old cellars and the underpinning of many ancient houses prove 
the contrary ? In 1854, some workmen near Sadler's rock, 
exhumed a deposit of quarried granite, which, from the appear- 
ance of the trees above it, must have lain there a hundred years, 
if, indeed, it did not belong to Mr. Sadler's habitation, which 
stood in the imuiediate vicinity more than two hundred years 
before. It would be astonishing if the old Iron "Works did not 
turn out drills and wedges innumerable, for use in the neighbor- 
hood. The art of working stone is a rudimental art, practiced 
every where, even among the rudest people, and was known in 
ages long before the foundation stones of Egyptian grandeur 
were laid. And there must have been a clear necessity for its 
practice in early New England times. How could they have 
built roads or cleared lands without blasting? And how easy 
it was to split up the granite boulders for building purposes.] 

On the 9th of December, there was a very great snow ; nearly 
seven feet deep on a level. (Sparhawk.) 

1787. 

[The formidable insurrection alluded to by Mr. Lewis, a few 
paragraphs back, and known as Shays' Rebellion, commenced 
in 1786. A town meeting was held in Lynn 17 January, of this 
year, at which it was voted " to raise the men called for by 
Gen. Titcomb." The town also voted that one pound be ad- 
vanced to each soldier who went from here, in addition to the 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1788, 1790. 353 

" wages given by the Court." It was likewise voted that tlio 
town pay each man " his wages in specie, that goes for tho 
town, when they know what wages the Court allows to each 
man and will take the wages of the Court themselves." And 
a further vote was passed requiring the selectmen to call upon 
the collectors for money to furnish the soldiers with camp uten- 
sils and provisions. And if they could not get sufficient from 
the collectors, they were authorized to hire money, giving 
their notes in behalf of the town. These votes show the same 
commendable promptness and determination in the performance 
of public duties that have always characterized the people of 
Lynn. 

[The first parish parsonage was built this year. It stood on 
the south side of the Common, corner of Commercial street. 
In 1832 it was sold and moved down the street, where it still 
stands, at tho corner of Neptune street.. There were what were 
called parsonage lands before this date.] 

1788. 

[A sloop, commanded by Captain Pendleton, was wrecked on 
Lynn Beach, 26 January. The vessel was lost. Only thirty- 
five cords of wood were saved.] 

General Washington passed through Lynn in October. The 
inhabitants were greatly delighted to see him ; and the old 
Boston road was thronged with people, who came forth to 
salute him as he proceeded to Salem. 

1790. 

[The following amusing epistle, relating to a disaster that 
appears to have taken place near the old sluice, in what is now 
the Dye Factory village, is found among the historical collec- 
tions of the Essex Institute, and is dated 18 February: 

Brother N. — I arrived at my house about 2 o'clock, but met with a dis- 
aster upon the road which has lamed me a little. Passing the Sluice, the ice 
lay so sidling I was afraid to ride over least the slay should run over the 
Bridge. Peggy got out to walk over, and I set on the side of the slay to drive 
over, and got over safe. Peggj'^, in passing, was taken by the wind, and must 
have gone over the Bridge, if she had not set herself down. Seeing that, I 
went to help her, and left my horse. lie set out after I had assisted Peggy. 
I pursued after tiie horse and ran till I was very much spent, and finally got 
hold of the slay, but my strength was spent and I was not able to get forward 
to get hold of the bridle. I slipped and fell, but was loth to lose my hold of 
the slay, and suffered myself to be drawn upon the ice, I suppose, twenty 
rods. At length I worked myself forward, got the bridle, and stop{)ed the 
horse, but found myself extremely spent, and much liruiscd and faint with my 
exertions. I feel pretty comfortable now. One of my ankles is very much 

swelled, but I hope it will go off soon. I now send by B Mrs. 'a 

mogisons and the green cloth — am obliged to her for them — all my family 
are well — my regards to your family. 

From your affectionate Brother. 

D2* 23 



354 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1791 

1791. 

Until this year, there were but two religious denominations 
in Lynn — the First Congregational Church and the Society of 
Friends. This year the First Methodist Society was organized. 
The Rev. Jesse Lee, a preacher of that persuasion, came to 
Lynn on the 14th of December previous, and was so successful 
in preaching at private houses, that on the 20tli of February a 
society was formed ; and on the 21st of June a house of worship 
was raised, which was dedicated on the 2Gth of the same month. 
This was the first Methodist meeting-house in Massachusetts. 
Several members of the First Congregational Church united 
with this society; among whom were the two deacons, who 
took witji them the vessels of the communion service. These 
vessels consist of four large silver tankards, eleven silver cups, 
and one silver font for baptism ; presented to the church by 
John Burrill, Theophilus Burrill, and John Breed. The removal 
of this plate occasioned a difference between the societies, and 
the Congregational Church was compelled to borrow vessels, 
for the communion, from the church at Saugus. The deacons 
afterward offered to return one half; and in prospect of a pros- 
ecution they relinquished the whole. It is a fact worthy of 
notice, that the First Congregational Church, which had opposed 
and persecuted the Quakers and the Baptists, was at one time 
so reduced, that only three male members remained. In 1794, 
this church invited those of its members who had seceded to 
the Methodist Society, to be reunited ; and within a few years, 
one of the deacons and several of the members returned. The 
first stationed minister of the Methodists was Rev. Amos G. 
Thomson. The frequent changes of the ministers of the persua- 
sion, render ii inconvenient to keep an account of them. They 
are regarded as belonging to the Conference, or society at large ; 
and, like the apostles, they " have no certain dwelling place." 
May their rest be in heaven ! 

[It is proper to add in this connection, that the Methodists 
have taken a very different view of the facts regarding their 
possession and detention of the church plate, from that taken 
by the Congregationalists, maintaining that there was nothing 
illegal or unfair in what they did — that they were in a majority 
before withdrawing from the old society, but were held as legal 
members and taxed for its support — that the deacons were the 
rightful custodians of the sacred vessels and had not been 
displaced — that they generously abstained from any attempt to 
possess themselves of the house of worship, and withdrew and 
erected an edifice for themselves. They further assert that 
an eminent counsellor was consulted, who assured them they 
were in the right. But does all this make out a case ? With- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1791. 355 

out pausing to consider what attitude the affliir might have 
assumed had the Methodists remained and outvoted the Con- 
gregationahsts, let us look at the facts just as they were. The 
Methodists withdrew — "seceded." to use Mr. Lewis's term. 
The plate was given to " The First Church of Christ in Lynn " — 
as the inscriptions on the different articles prove. Now did 
the seceders claim to be that First Church ? Why, no ; they 
claimed to be Methodists — a new denomination, and one un- 
known in the world at the time the pious donors gave the 
vessels. They did not revolutionize the old society, but sece- 
ded from it. And in the great political secession of 1861, when 
the seceders appropriated all the property of the United States 
on which they could hiy hands, what did we call them? If the 
communion vessels of a church are rightfully in possession of 
the deacons, they are there in trust and are not such property 
as attaches to the person. Could erroneous legal advice have 
bden received? Implicit faith in the instructions of his coun- 
sel may be admired in any party. But notwithstanding the 
proverbial discernment and integrity of law^^ers, it nevertJieloss 
has been known that while advocating the interests of opposing 
parties they have slightly differed ; sometimes, perhaps, leaning 
most strongly toward the side from which they received their 
fees. Something like this happened here; for it seems that the 
Congregationalists as well as the Methodists consulted most 
able counsel, and that each party received assurance that they 
were in the right. 

[It is not at all necessary for a moment to impute any evil 
intent to the Methodists; for there was opportunity enough 
for honest mistake, in the outset ; and as the contest increased 
in warmth it was not natural that their perception of the rights 
of the other side should become more clear. The deacons who 
had charge of the plate, appear to have been men of excellent 
character. And it is evident, too, that the old church did not 
conceive the conduct of the seceders to be such as to preclude 
them from a cordial invitation to return. And Deacon Farring- 
ton did, among o.thers, return. 

[This was a period when church difficulties were beginning 
to occur on every hand. Worse experiences than those which 
overtook the Old Tunnel befell some others of the societies 
which had been planted and nurtured amid the privations of the 
first settlements. Lawsuits, with their long trains of evils, in- 
tervened. And the decisions of the supreme court, in certain 
instances, fail to increase our respect for that august tribunal. 
It is a singular fict that the First Church of Lynn is almost 
the only one of the early Massschusetts churches that has main- 
tained her integrity in doctrine — that has adhered to the Calvin- 
istic faith. And perhaps her early experience with the Quakers 



556 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1792. 

ind subsequent conflicts with the Methodists, saved her from 
«vhat in the view of some of her devoted children would have 
oeen the greatest of all calamities, to wit, the instating of 
Unitarianism.] 

The eighteenth of December was the coldest day known for 
oaany years. The thermometer was twenty degrees below zero. 

1792. 

Rev. Obadiah Parsons relinquished his connection with the 
first parish on the 16th of July. He was born at Gloucester, 
graduated at Cambridge in 1768, and was installed at Lynn, 
February 4, 1784, where he preached eight years. He returned 
to Gloucester, where he died in December, 1801. His first wife 
was Elizabeth Wigglesworth ; his second, Sally Coffin. He had 
nine children; Elizabeth W., William, Sally C, William and Sally 
C. again, Obadiah, Polly, Harriet, Sall3\ [Mr. Parsons likewise 
taught the school near the east end of the Common. After his 
return to his native place, he there taught for several years, 
and performed the duties of justice of the peace. His first wife 
belonged to one of the most eminent families in the colony. 
And it is enough to say of his own family, that it gave to the 
commonwealth the most able chief justice who ever graced her 
bench. His son William studied medicine, and was surgeon's 
mate on board the frigate Constitution while quite a young 
man. His son Obadiah was remarkable for early mental devel- 
opment, but received injury from intense application, and died a 
little before he would have attained his majority. Elizabeth, 
the eldest daughter, born in 1770, was married to Amos Rhodes, 
who lived on the east side of Federal street, and was a man of 
property and standing. Polly, who was born in 1784, was 
married to Jabez Hitchings, a citizen long well known. 

[Before Mr. Parsons came to Lynn he was settled over the 
Squam parish, in Gloucester, which he left, in consequence of 
charges of a gross nature made against him by a female member. 
A council was held to examine into the allegations, and before 
it he made a strong defense. The result of the examination 
appears in the following votes: "1. That the charge or com- 
plaint made against the Rev. Mr. Obadiah Parsons was not sup- 
ported. 2. That, nevertheless, considering the great alienation 
of affection, especially on the part of his people, (nearly one 
half having left his ministry,) and the little prospect there is of 
further usefulness among them, we think it expedient, and advise 
as prudent, that the pastoral relation be dissolved." The coun- 
cil also made a report which was accepted by church and pastor. 
And Mr. Babson, in his valuable History of Gloucester says the 
church made application for a parish meeting to be called to 
act upon the doings of the council ; which meeting was held 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1793. 357 

on the 15th of November, and resulted in the refusal of the 
parish to accept the decision of the council. And they further 
voted, unanimously, uuder an article in the warrant for a pre- 
vious meeting adjourned to the same day, that Mr. Parsons be 
dismissed from the Avork of the gospel ministry. One would 
think that this action clearly enough indicated the prevalent 
opinion regarding the guilt of Mr. Parsons. Nevertheless, the 
Lynn church gave him a call. And, under all the circumstances, 
one may almost be pardoned for the suggestion that some evil 
spirit governed their course, in the hope that thereby the church 
would be broken up. 

[As might have been expected, the society was not prosper- 
ous under the ministry of Mr. Parsons. And there were not 
wanting stories of his moral delinquencies while in our midst. 
If he were innocent, he was greatly sinned against, and very 
unfortunate in being involved in suspicious circumstances. He 
was unquestionably a man of talents, learning, and pleasing 
manners, and under other circumstances might have iDeen an 
instrument of much good. I have been informed by one of our 
most aged and intelligent citizens, who was a pupil at his school, 
that he would frequently send by the scholars his compliments 
to their mothers with the message that he would call and 
take tea with them. But his reputation was such that notwith- 
standing the sacred relation he sustained, the return message 
that it would not be convenient to entertain him would occa- 
sionally come. He lived in the Lindsay house, as it is now 
called, on South Common street, the second west from the 
corner of Pleasant.] 

The ship Commerce, of Boston, was wrecked on the coast of 
Arabia, on the 10th of July. One of the crew was James Lar- 
rabee, of Lynn, who suffered almost incredible hardships, being 
robbed by the Bedouins, and compelled to travel hundreds of 
miles over the burning sands, where he saw his companions 
daily perishing by hunger, thirst, and heat. He finally arrived 
at Muscat, where he was relieved and sent home by the English 
consul. Of thirty-four men, only eight survived. 

On the 10th of August Joshua Howard, aged twenty-nine, 
went into the water, after laboring hard upon the salt marsh, 
and was immediately chilled and drowned. 

[Widow Elizabeth Phillips died on the 11th of December, 
aged a hundred years.] 

1793. 

This year the post office was established at Lynn, at the corner 
of Boston and Federal streets. Col. James Robinson was the 
first postmaster. [He died in 1832; and a brief notice of him 
will appear under that date.] 



358 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1794. 

A boat, containing five persons, was overset, near tlie mouth 
of Saugus river, on the 14th of December, and three persons 
drowned. These were John Burrill, aged 67, WilHam Whitte- 
more, aged 27, and William Crow, aged 15 years. They had 
been on an excursion of pleasure to the Pines; the afternoon 
was pleasant, and as they were returning, the boat was struck 
by a squall, which frightened them, and caused them to seek 
the shore, which they probably would have gained, had not one 
of them jumped upon the side of the boat, which caused it to 
be overset. Two of them swam to the shore in safety, Mr. 
Burrill and the boy also gained the beach, but died in a few 
minutes. 

Dr. John Flagg died on the 27th of May. He was a son of 
Rev, Ebenezer Flagg, of Chester, N. H., born in 1743, and 
graduated at Cambridge, in 1761, In 1769, he came to L^^nn, 
where his prudence and skill soon secured him the confidence 
of the people. He was chosen a member of the Committee of 
Safety, in 1775, and received a commission as Colonel, His 
wife was Susanna Fowle, and he had one daughter, Susanna, 
who married Dr, James Gardner, 

[Ebenezer Burrill discovered an old tan vat, at Swampscot, 
which evidently belonged to the tannery on King's brook, 
which was in operation in 1743, and took from it a side of 
leather which had doubtless lain there forty years. Near a 
branch of the same brook Mr. Burrill also found relics of an 
ancient brick kiln.] 

17 94. 

On the 17th of May, there was a great frost. 

Rev. Thomas Cushing ThaVcher was ordained minister of the- 
First Parish, on the 13th of August, 

A new school-house was this year built by a few individuals 
and purchased by the town. Six hundred and sixty-six dollars 
were granted for the support of schools. 

In the prospect of a war with France, the government of the 
United States required an army of eighty thousand men to be 
in preparation. Seventy-five men were detached from Lynn, 
The town gave each of them twenty-three shillings, and voted 
to increase their wages to ten dollars a month, 

[The manufacture of snufi" was commenced at Makepeace's 
mill, on Saugus river, by Samuel Fales, Two mortars, formed 
by rimming out a couple of rough buttonwood logs, were set 
up. And this was the beginning of a business which became 
profitable. 

[Christmas day was so warm that at noon the thermometer 
stood at eighty, and boys went in to swim. Such a thing was 
probably never known here, before or since.] 



ANNALS OP LYNN— 1795, 1796. 359 



1795. 

In a great storm, on the night of the 9th of December, the 
Scottish brig Peggy, Captain John Williamson, from Cape Bre- 
ton, was wrecked near the southern end of Lynn Beach. She 
was laden with dried fish, consigned to Thomas Amory, of Bos- 
ton. There were twelve men on board, only one of whom, 
Hugh Cameron, of Greenock, in Scotland escaped. He was 
ordered into the long-boat, to make fast the tackle, when the 
same wave separated it from the vessel, and swept his unfor- 
tunate comrades from their Jast hold of life. The vessel was 
completel}'- wrecked, being dashed to pieces upon the hard sand, 
and the fragments of the vessel, the cargo, and the crew, were 
scattered in melancholy ruin along the beach. The bodies of 
eight of the drowned men were recovered, and on the 11th, 
they were buried from the First Parish meeting-house, where 
an affecting sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Thatcher, from 
Job 1 : 19, "And I only am escaped alone!" During the dis- 
course, Hugh Cameron stood in the centre aisle. 

[In Dwight's Travels it is stated that during no summer for 
eighty years was there so much rain as during that of 1795. 
For ten weeks, commencing in the middle of June, it rained 
at least a part of half the days. 

[Massey's Hall, so called, was built this j^ear. It was on 
Boston street, a few rods west of Federal, and is believed to 
have been the first public hall in Lynn. Here the Republican 
and Democratic caucuses were held. The first dancing school 
was opened in this hall, in 1800. 

[The schooner Dove, of about twenty tons, was this year 
purchased by James Phillips, Jonathan Blaney, and others, and 
was the first of the little schooners owned in Swampscot. In 
1797 she went ashore in a storm, between Black Rock and New 
Cove, and became a total wreck. The same year, James Phillips, 
Beniah Phillips, Joseph Fuller, and others, bought the schooner 
Lark, of sixteen tons. In October, 1799, during a gale, she 
sank at her moorings, being a leaky old boat. But the Swamp- 
scot people were not to be driven from their purpose by these 
disasters, and in the same year bought another schooner of the 
name of the first — the Dove. Such was the beginning of that 
class of Swampscot marine, which now makes such a picturesque 
appearance in her little bay.] 



1796. 

[The first fire engine purchased for public use in Lynn, was 
bought this year. It is still [18G4] in existence, and occasion- 
ally makes its appearance, on an alarm, attracting much more 
attention by its antique appearance than by its usefulness.] 



360 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1797, 1798. 



1797. 

[Jonathan Makepeace commenced the manufacture of choco- 
late at the mill on Saugus river. And this may be set down as 
the beginning of the production of that excellent article which, 
under Mr, Childs, attained a world-wide celebrity. It is not 
improbable, however, that before this, Benjamin Sweetser had 
made a little chocolate, by horse power.] 

1798. 

[At a legal town meeting, the people of Lynn adopted an 
address to the President and Congress, touching our troubles 
with France. The address, which seems in the style of Rev. Mr. 
Thacher, well exhibits the loyalty and spirit of the people, and, 
together with the President's reply, is here given : 

To John Adams, President, the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

United States of America: 

At a jieriod which so seriously arrests the attention of every American, 
and true friend of his country, as the present, the inhabitants of Lynn, in the 
State of Massachusetts, feelinj? it to be tlieir duty, and impressed with the just, 
wise and prudent administration of the Executive and the rulers in general of 
the American republic, ardently embrace an opportunity to announce their de- 
termined resolutioji to support their constitution and government, with all they 
Jiold most sacred and dear. Convinced as we are, that the President has, by 
fair, unequivocal, and full instructions, which he has given to our envoys, to 
adjust and amicably accommodate all existing difficulties between the United 
States and the French republic, done all consistent with the honor, dignity, and 
freedom of his country, to preserve peace and good understanding with that 
nation. Notwithstanding our envoys are commissioned with full power to 
settle all animosities with the French agents, upon the broadest basis of equity, 
they are treated with neglect — refused an audience, lest their reasonings should 
show to the world the integrity of our government and disclose their iniquity. 

Legislators, Guardians! The most neferious designs have been plotted to 
subvert our government, subjugate the coimtry, and lay us under contribution ; 
but thanks be to the Sovereign of the universe, that we do- not experience the 
fate of Venice, nor groan under the oppression of subdued nations. We are 
a free people, have a sense of the blessings which we enjoy under that liberty 
and independence, which we have wrested from the hand of one king, and 
will not supinely submit to any nation. 

We wisli not again to behold our fields crimsoned with human blood, and 
fervently pray God to avert the calamities of war. Nevertheless, should our 
magistrates, in whom we place entire confidence, find it expedient to take 
energetic measures to defend oui- liberties, we will readily cooperate with them 
in every such measure ; nor do we hesitate, at this interesting crisis, to echo 
the declaration of our illustrious chief, that "we are not humiliated under a 
colonial sense of fear ; we are not a divided people." Our arms are strong ill 
defense of our rights, and we are determined to repel oui* foe. 

[Reply.] 

To the Inhabitants of Lynn, in the State of Massachusetts : 

Gentlemen : Your address to the President, Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, adopted at a legal town meeting, has been presented to me by your 
Representative in Congress, Mr. Sewall. 

When the inhabitants of one of our towns, assembled in legal form, solemnly 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1799, 1800. 361 

declare themselves impressed with the wise, just, and prudent administration 
of their rulers in general ; and that they will support dieir constitution and 
government, with all they hold most sacred and dear, no man who knows 
them, will (jucstion their si-icerity. 

The conviction you avow that the President has done all, consistent with 
the lionor, dignity, and freedom of his country, to preserve peace and good 
undei-standing with the French, is a gratification to me which I receive with 
esteem. 

As the treatment of your envoys is without a possibility of justification, 
excuse, or apology, I leave it to your just resentment. Your acknowledgment 
of the blessings you enjoy, under your liberty and independence, and deter- 
mination never supinely to surrender them, prove you to deserve them. 

John Adams.] 

1799. 

[A resolve passed the General Court, 7 June, establishing^ 
a Notary Public at Lynn. And this being the first officer of 
the kind here, it may be well to say a Avord respecting tht^ 
history of the office in Massachusetts. Hutchinson, under date 
1720, says, '' There had been no public notaries in the Province, 
except such as derived their authority from the Archbi:<hop of 
Canterbury. The House now first observed that a Notary 
Public was a civil officer, which by the charter was to be chosen 
by the General Court, and sent a message desiring the council 
to join with the house in the choice of such an officer in each 
port of the province." The custom under the second charter 
must be referred to ; and we may conclude that the colonists 
under the first charter operated with a high hand in this as 
well as in many other things; for the Court appointed, in 1644, 
William Aspinwall, of Boston, Notary for Massachusetts. And 
in 1697, Stephen Sewall was a "notary publique."] 

A barn, belonging to Mr. Micajah Newhall on the south side 
of the Common, was struck by lightning, about noon, on the 
2d of August, and burned, with a quantity of hay and grain, and 
one of his oxen. 

1800. 

TJie memory of Washington was honored by a procession and 
eulog}^, on the 13th of January. He died on the 14th of De- 
cember previous. The people assembled at the school-house; 
the scholars walked first, with crape on their arms, followed by 
a company of militia, with muffled drums, the municipal officers 
and citizens. The eulogy was pronounced by Rev. Thomas C. 
Thacher, at the First Congregational meeting-house. A fune- 
ral sermon, on the same occasion, was preached by Rev. William 
Guirey, at the First Methodist meeting-house. 

[The Legislature passed, 20 February, an act to encourage 
the manufacture of shoes, boots, and goloshes.] 

On the afternoon of Sunday, March 1st, there was an earth- 
quake. 

E2 



362 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1800. 

On the 11th of June, Mr. Samuel Dyer, a gentleman from 
Boston, was drowned in Humfrey's Pond, at Lynnfield. 

[On Friday, 18 July, the first regular New England Methodist 
Conference commenced at the meeting-house on the Common. 
Among those present were Jesse Lee, George Pickering, Joshua 
Wells, Joshua Tajdor. Joshua Hall, Andrew Nichols, William 
Beauchamp, Thomas F. Sargent, Daniel Fidler, Ralph Williston, 
Timothy Merritt, and John Finnegan, elders, and fathers of 
American Methodism, though some of them were then young 
in years. The Conference continued in session two days. The 
preachers, however, remained over Sunday, when ordination 
services were held. Bishop Asbury delivered an address, from 
the text, Matthew ix : 36-38. While the congregation were 
still assembled, the clouds gathered and a copious rain descend- 
ed. This was deemed a " signal instance of divine goodness ; " 
for a severe drought had prevailed, and the preachers had been 
zealously praying for rain.] 

On the 26th of July, Mr. Nathaniel Fuller, aged 38 years, was 
drowned from a fishing boat, near Nahant. 

The ship William Henry, of Salem, owned by Hon. William 
Gray, was wrecked on an island of ice, on the 1st of May. 
Three of the crew were John Newhall, James Parrott, and Bas- 
sett Breed, of Lynn. They launched the long-boat ; and the 
whole crew, consisting of fifteen persons, leaped into it. They 
saved nothing but the compass, the captain's trunk, an axe, and 
a fishing line. For six days they had no water but a small 
quantity which had fallen from the clouds, and laid in the hol- 
low of an island of salt water ice. On the fourth day, they 
caught a fish, which some of them devoured raw, but others 
were too faint with their long fast to swallow any. When the 
storm and fog cleared up, they went ashore at Newfoundland, 
and the next morning found their boat stove and filled with 
water. They subsisted three days on sea peas, thistles, and 
cranberries. Several of the crew were unable to walk ; but 
having repaired their boat, they put to sea, and were discovered 
by a vessel containing four men, who at first would afford them 
no relief, but after much entreaty threw them a rope, and they 
arrived at St. John, where the American consul furnished them 
with a passage home. 

[An elephant was exhibited in Lynn, for the first time, this 
year. He Avas shown in the chaise house of Col. Robinson, on 
Boston street, corner of Federal. 

[On the 24th of December there was no frost in the ground. 

Previous to the year 1800, there were only three houses on 
Nahant, owned by Breed, Hood, and Johnson. This year a 
large house was erected on the western part of Nahant, as a 
hotel, by Capt. Joseph Johnson. 



ANNALS OF LYNN— 1801, 1802, 1803. 363 

[The manufacture of morocco leather was introduced into 
Lynn, tliis year. William Rose established a factory on the 
south side of the Common, opposite where the pond now is. 
A small brook ran across at that place.] 

1801. 

A very brilliant meteor, half the size of the full moon, ap- 
peared in the northwest, on the evening of Friday, IG October. 

["In all my school days, which ended in J801," says Benja- 
min Mudge, in a memorandum, " I never saw but three females 
in public schools, and they were there only in the afternoon, to 
learn to write." In the Lynn school reports, female pupils are 
not spoken of till 1817.] 

1802. 

Rev. John Carnes died on the 26th of October, aged 78. He 
was born at Boston in 1724, graduated in 1742, was minister at 
Stoneham and Rehoboth, and chaplain in the army of the Revo- 
lution. At the close of the war he came to Lynn, received a 
commission as justice of the peace, was nine times elected as a 
representative, and in 1788 was a member of the Convention 
to ratify the Constitution of the United States. He was an 
active and useful citizen. Ho married Mary, daughter of John 
Lewis, resided on Boston street, and had two children, John 
and Mary. 

1803. 

Rev. Joseph Roby, pastor of the Congregational Church in 
Saugus, died on the last day of January, aged 79. He was born 
at Boston, in 1724, graduated in 1742, and was ordained minister 
of the third parish of Lynn, now the first parish of Saugus, 1752. 
He preached fifty-one years. He was an excellent scholar, a 
pious and venerable man, and was highly esteem'ed for his social 
virtues. He published two Fast Sermons, one in 1781, the other 
in 1794. He married Rachel Proctor, of Boston, and had seven 
children ; Joseph, Rachel, Mary, Henry, Thomas, Elizabeth and 
Sarah. [Mr. Roby belonged to an excellent family. Dr. Thomas 
Roby, of Cambridge, and Dr. Ebenezer Roby, of East Sudbur}^, 
both highly distinguished men, were his uncles. Some of the 
family spelled the name Robie. His son Thomas, who was 
born 2 March, 1759, graduated at Cambridge in 1779; settled 
at Chatham in 1783, and remained there till 1795. He died in 
1836.] 

The ship Federal George, of Duxbury, sailed from Boston in 
February, bound to Madeira, with a cargo of flour and corn. In 
the number of the crew were three men from Lynn, whose 
names were Bas'sett Breed Parker Mudge, and Jonathan Ward. 



364 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1803. 

In the midst of the Atlantic they were overtaken by a great 
storm, which, on the 22d, capsized the vessel, carried away her 
masts, and bowsprit, and when it subsided, left the deck two 
feet beneath the water. The crew, which consisted of seven 
men, remained lashed upon the windlass for twenty-four days. 
Their sustenance, for the first part of the time, was a small piece 
of meat, and a box of candles, which floated up from the hold. 
They afterward succeeded in obtaining a bag of corn, and some 
flour soaked with salt water. Their allowance of drink, at first, 
was a coftee-pot cover full of water twice a day. This was 
afterward reduced to one half, and then to one third. On the 
18th of March, they were relieved by the Duke of Kent, an 
English merchant ship, returning from the South Sea. When 
they were taken from the wreck, they had but one quart of wa- 
ter left. [The Bassett Breed mentioned as one of the sufferers, 
survived for many years, and died at Lynn, on the 22d of De- 
cember, 1862, at the advanced age of 87. He had accumulated 
considerable property, and was a worthy citizen.] 

On Sunday, the 8th of May, a snow storm commenced, and 
continued about seven hours. The siiow was left upon the 
ground to the depth of one inch. The apple trees were in blos- 
som at the time. 

On the 8th of July, Mr. William Cushman, aged 23, a work- 
man on the Lynn Hotel, was drowned from a raft of timber, in 
Saugus river. 

On Sunday, the 10th of July, about three of the clock in the 
afternoon, a* house on Boston street, nearly opposite the foot 
of Cottage, was struck by lightning, and Mr. Miles Shorey and 
his wife were instantly killed. The bolt appeared like a large 
ball of fire. It struck the western chimney, and then, after 
descending several feet, separated. One branch melted a watch 
which hung over the chamber mantel, passed over the cradle 
of a sleeping infant, covering it with cinders, and went out at 
the north chamber window. The other brancli descended with 
the chimney, and when it reached the chamber floor, separated 
into two brandies, above the heads gf the wife and husband, 
who were passing at that instant from the parlor to the kitchen. 
One part struck Mrs. Shorey on the side of her head, left her 
stocking on fire, and passed into the ground. The other part 
entered Mr. Shorey's bosom, passed down his side, melted the 
buckle of his shoe, and went out at one of the front windows. 
There were four families in the house, which contained, at the 
time, nineteen persons, several of whom were much stunned. 
One man, who stood at the eastern door, was crushed to the 
floor by the pressure of the atmosphere. When the people 
entered' the room in which Mr. Shorey and his wife lay, they 
found two small children endeavoring to awaken their parents. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1803. 365 

* 

An infant, which Mrs. Shorey held in her arms, when slic was 
struck, was found with its hair scorched, and its little finger naila 
slightly burned. She lived, and became the wife of Mr. Samuol 
Farrington. Mr. Shorey was a native of New Hampshire, 29 
years of age. Mrs. Love Shorey, aged 28 years, was a daugh- 
ter of Mr. Allen Breed, of Lynn. On the next day they were 
buried. The coffins were carried side by side, and a double 
procession of mourners, of a great length, followed the bodies to 
their burial in one grave. 

On the next Sunday, a funeral sermon was preached by the 
Rev. Thomas Cushing Thacher, at the First Congregational 
meeting-house, from Job xxxvii : 2, 3, 4. At the close of the 
service, a house in Market street, owned by Mr. Richard Pratt, 
was struck by lightning. It descended the chimney, separated 
into three branches, did considerable damage to the house, and 
left Mr. Pratt senseless on the floor for several minutes. 

On Sunday, the 28th of August, at one o'clock in the morning, 
the hotel on the western part of Nahant, owned by Captain 
Joseph Johnson, took fire and was consumed, with all its con- 
tents. The family were awakened by the crying of a child, 
which was stifling with the smoke, and had just time to escape 
with their lives. A black man, who slept in the upper story, 
saved himself bv' throwing a feather bed from the window, and 
jumping upon it. 

On the 8th of September, John Ballard, John Pennerson, and 
his son, went out on a fishing excursion. On the next day, the 
boat came ashore at Nahant, with her sails set, the lines out for 
fishing, and food ready cooked. Nothing more was ever heard 
of the crew; but as Mr. Pennerson was a Frenchman, and as a 
French vessel had been seen that day in the ba}', it was con- 
jectured that they were taken on board and carried to France. 

On Thursday, the 22d of September, the Salem Turnpike was 
opened and began to receive toll. The Lynn Hotel was built 
this year. The number of shares in this turnpike was twelve 
hundred, and the original cost was $180,000. This road will 
become the property of the Commonwealth, when the proprie- 
tors shall have received the whole cost, with twelve per cent, 
interest; and the bridge over Mystic river, when seventy years 
shall be accomplished. This turnpike, for nearl}^ four miles, 
passes over a tract of salt marsh, which is frequently covered 
by the tide. When it was first projected, many persons es- 
teemed it impracticable to build a good road on such a founda- 
tion. One person testified that he had run a pole down to the 
depth of twenty-five feet. Yet this turnpike proves to be one 
of the most excellent roads in America. 

The post ofiice was removed from Boston street to the south 
end of Federal street. 
E2* 



366 ANNALS OP LYNN.— 1804. 



1804. 

This year a powder house was built, near Hif^h Rock, at an 
expense of one hundred and twenty dollars. [This remained a 
curious and conspicuous little mark for about fifty years, when 
on a certain night some rogue set it on fire and it was consumed. 
It had ceased to be used for the storing of powder, many years 
before. 

[The first celebration of Independence, in Lynn, took place 
this year. There was a procession, and an oration was deliv- 
ered by Rev, Peter Janes, the Methodist minister. A patriotic 
ode, written by Enoch Mudge, was sung. A large company 
partook of a dinner in the hall in the west wing of the Hotel, 
which was built the preceding year. 

[Snow fell in this vicinity, in July ; yet the month proved, on- 
the average, to be the warmest of the year.] 

On the 4th of August, the body of a woman was found in the 
canal, on the north side of the turnpike, a short distance west 
of Saugus bridge. She was ascertained to have been a widow 
Currel, who was traveling from Boston to Marblehead. The 
manner of her death was unknown. 

Rev. William Frothingham was ordained minister of the Sau- 
gus parish, on the 26th of September. He continued to perform 
the duties of that office till the year 1817, when he was dismissed, 
on his own request. 

One of the greatest storms ever known in New England com- 
menced on Tuesday morning, the 9th of October. The rain fell 
fast, accompanied by thunder. At four in the afternoon the 
wind became furious, and continued with unabated energy till 
the nest morning. This was probably the severest storm after 
that of August, 1635. The damage occasioned by it was very 
great. Buildings were unroofed, barns, chimneys, and fences 
were blown down, and orchards greatly injured. The chimney 
of the school-house on the western part of the Common, fell 
through the roof, in the night, carrying the bench, at which I 
had been sitting a few hours before, into the cellar. Many 
vessels were wrecked, and in several towns the steeples of 
meeting-houses were broken off, and carried to a great distance. 
The number of trees uprooted in the woodlands was beyond 
calculation. Thousands of the oldest and hardiest sons of the 
forest, which had braved the storms of centuries, were pros- 
trated before it, and the woods throughout were strewed with 
the trunks.of fnllen trees, which were not gathered up for many 
years. Some have supposed that a great storm, at an early- 
period, may have blown down the trees on the marshes; but it 
could not have buried them several feet deep; and trees have 
been found thus buried. 



ANNALS OF LYNN— 1805, 1806. 367 



1805. 

For a hundred and seventy-three years, from the building of 

the first parish meeting-house, the people had annually assembled 

in it, for the transaction of their municipal concerns. But this 

year, the members of that parish observing the damage which 

such meetings occasioned to the house, and believing that, 

sinpe the incorporation of other parishes, the town had no title 

in it, refused to have it occupied as a town-house. This refusal 

occasioned much controversy between the town and parish, and 

xcommittees were appointed by both parties to accomplish an 

I'adjustment. An engagement was partially made for the occu- 

"pation of the house, on the payment of twenty-eight dollars 

annually ; but the town refused to sanction the agreement, and 

the meetings were removed to the Methodist meeting-house, on 

the eastern part of the Common, in 1806. 

The Lynn Academy was opened on the 5th of April, under 
the care of Mr. William Ballard. A bell was presented to this 
institution by Col. James Robinson. 

An earthquake happened on the 6th of April, at fifteen min- 
utes after two in the afternoon. 

On the 11th of May, Mr. John Legree Johnson's house, on 
the east end of the Common, was struck by lightning. 

A society of Free Masons was constituted on the 10th of 
June, by the name of Mount Carmel Lodge. [For further no- 
tices of this institution, see under dates 1834 and 1845,] 

On the 24th of July, Mr. Charles Adams fell from the rocks 
at Nipper Stage, on Nahant, and was drowned. 

[On Sunday, 11 October, Benjamin Phillips's house, on Water 
Hill, was struck by lightning.] 

1806. 

A total eclipse of the sun happened on Monday, the 16th of 
June. It commenced a few minutes after ten in the forenoon, 
and continued about two hours and a half. The sun rose clear,' 
and the morning was uncommonly pleasant. As the eclipse 
advanced, the air became damp and cool, like the approach of 
evening.^ The birds at first flew about in astonishment, and 
then retired to their roosts, and the stars appeared. The shad- 
ow of the moon was seen traveling across the earth from west 
to east; and at the moment when the last direct ray of the sun 
was intercepted, all things around appeared to waver, as if the 
earth was felling from its orbit. Several persons fainted, and 
many were observed to take hold of the objects near them for 
support. The motion of the spheres was distinctly perceptible, 
and the whole system appeared to be disordered. It seemed as 
if the central orb of light and animation was about to be forever 



368 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1807. 

extinguished, and creation was returning to its original nonen- 
tity. The most unreflecting mind was made sensible of its 
dependence, and the soul involuntarily sought the protection 
of its Maker. The total darkness endured about three minutes. 
When the sun came forth from his obscurity, it was with over- 
whelming lustre ; the dreadful silence which had spread its 
dominion over the universe, was broken ; the cocks began to 
crow, the birds renewed their songs, and man and nature seemed 
to rejoice, as if returning to existence, from which they had been 
shut out by the unwonted darkness. 

The anniversary of American Independence was this year 
publicly celebrated in Lynn, for the first time. [Mr. Lewis is 
mistaken here. See under date 1804.] As the spirit of party 
was exercising its unabated influence, the inhabitants could not 
unite in performing the honors of the day, and made two pro- 
cessions. The Federalists assembled at the First Congregational 
meeting-house, where an oration was delivered by Mr. Hosea 
Hildreth, preceptor of the Academy ; and the Democrats met at 
the First Methodist meeting-house, where an oration was pro- 
nounced by Dr. Peter G. Robbins. The Democrats dined at 
the Hotel, and the Federalists in the hall of the Academy. 

And such regard for freedom there was shown, 
That either party wished her all their own ! 

[The town meetings began to be held, this year, in the First 
Methodist meeting-house; and they were held there till 1814.] 

1807. 

The town having determined that no person who was not an 
inhabitant should have the privilege of taking any sand, shells, 
or sea manure from the Lynn beaches, this year prosecuted 
several of the inhabitants of Danvers, for trespassing against 
this order. The decision of the court established the right of 
the town to pass such a vote and left it in legal possession of all 
the natural treasures which the sea might cast upon its shores. 

[A rock on the east side of Oak street, was struck by light- 
ning, this year, and a portion weighing some twelve tons thrown 
two hundred feet. 

[Theophilus Bacheller's house was burned in October.] 

The depression of commerce and manufactures, at the close 
of this year, was very great. This was principally occasioned 
by the state of affiiirs in Europe, and the spoliation of property 
in American vessels, by the governments of FrAnce and Eng- 
land, which, in the prosecution of their hostilities, had made 
decrees affecting neutral powers. On the twenty-second of 
December, congress passed an act of embargo, by which all the 
ports of the United States were closed against the clearance 
of all vessels. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1808. 369 



1808. 

The enforcement of the embargo law occasioned great suffer- 
ing throughout the Union, particularly in commercial places. 
The harbors were filled with dismantled vessels, which lay- 
rotting at the wharves. Thousands of seamen were thrown 
out of employment, the price of provisions was enhanced, and 
the spirit of desolation seemed to be spreading her dark wings 
over the land. While the democrats were disposed to regard 
this state of things as requisite to preserve the dignity of the 
nation and the energy of government, the federalists viewed 
it as an impolitic, unjust, and arbitrary measure, by which the 
interests of commerce were sacrificed to the will of party. The 
spirit of opposition, in this difference of opinion, was put forth 
in its utmost strength. At the election in April, the greatest 
number of votes was produced which had at this time been 
given in the town ; of which 418 were for James Sullivan, and 
273 for Christopher Gore. On the second of May, the people 
assembled for the choice of representatives. The democratic 
party voted to choose three, and the federalists were inclined 
to send none. As there was some difficulty in ascertaining the 
vote, it was determined that the people should go out of the 
Louse, and arrange themselves on diflFerent sides of the Common, 
to be counted. The denrocrats went out, but a part of the 
federalists renvained, and took possession of the house. They 
chose a town clerk, to whom the oath of office was administered, 
voted to send no representative, and made a record of their 
proceeding in the town book. The other party then returned, 
an>d chose three representatives. Several of the principal fed- 
eralists were afterwar.d prosecuted for their infringement of a 
legal town meeting; but as it appeared on examination, that 
none of the town meetings had been legal for many years, 
because not called by warrant, they were exonerated. On the 
29:h of August, a meeting was held to petition the President to 
remove the embargo; but tiie town voted that such a pioceed- 
ing would be highly improper, and passed several resolutions, 
approving the measures of the administration. On the following 
d ly, the federah'sts prepared a memorial, expressing their dis- 
approbation of the embargo, and requesting its repeal, which 
was transmitted to the President. The feelings of both parties 
were raised to a degree of excitement, which could only be 
su-'tafned by political events of unusual occurrence. 

[A great buJl fight took place at the halfway house, on the 
tutnpiie, in the summer. Bulls and bull dogs were engaged in 
the cruel and vulgar sport. It was got up by a Mr. Gray, of 
Salem, and great numbers attended. Raised seats were arranged 
for the spectators to conveniently watch the ferocious conflict. 

24 



370 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1808. 

This was the first bull fight in New England, and certainly 
should have been, as it probably was, the last.] 

On the 20th of September, the house of widow Jerusha "Wil- 
liams, in Market street, was struck by lightning. On the same 
afternoon, the lightning fell on a flock of sheep, at Nahant, 
which were gathered beside a stone wall for shelter, and killed 
eighteen of them. 

On the night of Monday, October 31, Mr. Theophilus Breed's 
barn, on the south side of the Common, was burned ; and on 
the night of the following Thursday, a barn belonging to Mr. 
Jacob Chase, on the opposite side of the Common, was con- 
sumed ; both of them having been set on fire by a mischievous 
boy. 

A company of Artillery was incorporated by the General 
Court, on the 18th of November, and two brass field pieces 
allowed them. [Aaron Newhall was the first captain, and Ezra 
Mudge and Benjamin Mudge were lieutenants.] 

This year Benjamin Merrill, Esq., came into town. He was 
the first lawyer at Lynn. [Mr. Merrill's office was in the south- 
west chamber of the dwelling house that still stands on North 
Common street, the next west from Park. He died at Salem, 
30 July, 1847, aged 63. He was a man of fine talents, excellent 
education, and kind feelings. He remained in Lynn but a few 
months and then removed to Salem, where he became quite 
eminent in the profession; rather, however, as a counsellor and 
conveyancer than as a pleader. He received the degree of 
LL. D. at Cambridge, in 1845. The ofccasion of his removal 
from Lynn as he informed me, a few years before his death, was 
somewhat singular. A deputation of tlie citizens called on him 
with the request that he would leave the place, it being appre- 
hended that evil and strife would abound wherever a lawj^er's 
tent was pitched. He took the matter in good part and soon 
departed. The people of Lynn afterward made some amends 
for their uncivil proceeding, by entrusting a large share of their 
best legal business to his hands. He served them faithfully, 
and never seemed to entertain the least ill feeling toward any 
here. He died lamented by a large circle who had received 
benefits at his hand, and left a considerable estate. He was 
pever married, which seemed the more singular, as he was emi- 
nently social in his habits. 

[Samuel Newell — as he spelled his surname, though Mr. 
Lewis makes it Newhall — was this year preceptor of Lynn 
Academy. He was feeble, and unable to keep up a rigid disci- 
pline. He remained but a short time, and was afterward a 
missionary in India. The celebrated Harriet Newell was his 
wife. 

[A white faced cow, while grazing in the old burying ground 



ANNALS OP LYNN— 1809, 1810, 1811. 371 

broke through a tomb. Some persons in the vicinit}^, at niglit, 
observing her head raised and struggling, were much alarmed, 
and horrifying ghost stories immediately prevailed. 

[The trapping of lobsters was first practiced at Swampscot, 
this year, by Ebenezer Thorndike. He had twelve pots. 

[The manufacture of chewing and smoking tobacco was be- 
gun this year, in that part of Lynn now known as Cliftondale, 
Saugus, by Samuel Copp. By degrees it grew to be a large 
and lucrative business,] 

1809. 

The inhabitants petitioned the General Court for an act to 
establish the proceedings of the town in their previous meet- 
ings, which had been illegal, in consequence of the meetings 
having been called by notice from the selectmen, instead of a 
warrant to a constable. A resolve confirming the proceedings 
of tlie town was passed by the Court on the 18th of February. 

The embargo law was repealed by Congress, on the 12th of 
April, and an act of non-intercourse with France and England, 
substituted in its place. 

1810. 

Independence was celebrated by both political parties, who 
very patriotically and cordially united for thai purpose. They 
formed a procession at the Lynn Hotel, which was then kept by 
Mr. Ebenezer 'Lewis, and proceeded to the First Congregational 
meeting-house, where an oration was delivered by Dr. Peter G. 
Robbins. 

This year the Lynn Mineral Spring Hotel was built. 

On Friday evening, November 9, there was an earthquake, 

[It appeared, by careful estimation, that there were made in 
Lynn, this vear, 1,000.000 pairs of shoes, valued at about 
$800,000. the females earned some $50,000 by binding.] 

1811. 

On the 8th of January, Ayer Williams Marsh, aged five years, 
was killed b}^ the falling of an anvil, from a cheese-press, 

A great snow storm commenced on the 2d of February, and 
continued three days. It was piled up in reefs, in some places, 
more than fifteen feet. In Market street, arches were dug be- 
neath it, higl] enough for carriages to pass through. 

On the 4th of July, the officers of Lynn, Marblehead, and 
Danvers, had a military celebration at Lynn. The young fed- 
eralists also partook of a dinner in the hall of Lewis's hotel, 
which was tastefully decorated for the occasion, by the young 
ladies. 

The 7th of July was excessively hot. The thermometer rose 



372 ANNALS OF LYNN— 1812. 

to a hundred and one degrees in the shade. Mr. John Jacobs, 
aged 70, while laboring on the salt marsh fell dead in conse- 
quence of the heat. 

A splendid comet was visible on the 11th of October, between 
Arcturus and Lyra. Its train was estimated to be forty mil- 
lions of miles in length. It remained visible for a number of 
months. 

[The '' Lynn Wire and Screw Manufacturing Company," was 
incorporated this year. They built a dam and factory on Sau- 
gus river. There was a fair prospect of success ; but the peace 
of 1815, by restoring the means for cheap importations, ruined 
their prospects, and the business was abandoned. A number 
of substantial individuals were engaged in the promising enter- 
prise. 

[The first meeting for the preaching of Universalism, in Lynn, 
was held in the Academy, on the Common, this year. Rev. 
Joshua Flagg, of Salem, preached. He also lectured at Graves- 
end.] 

The Second Methodist Society was formed in the eastern part 
of the town, by separation from the First Society. A meeting- 
house was built, which was dedicated on the 27th of November. 
Their first minister was Rev. Epaphras Kibbey. 

1812. 

On the 4th of May there was a snow storm, all day and night. 
The snow was about eight inches deep. 

War was declared by Congress against England, on the 18th 
of June. This was called the War of Impressments, because 
England claimed the right to search American vessels for her 
sailors. The conflict was chiefly conducted by battle ships on 
the water, but people were much afi"ected by it in the depression 
of commerce. The Federalists disapproved of the war — the 
Democrats exulted in it. 

A new meeting-house was built by the First Methodist Soci- 
ety, at the east end of the Common. 

The burial ground in Union street was opened. 

[A pottery was commenced in what is now Cliftondale, Saugus, 
by William Jackson. A fine kind of earthen ware was made 
from clay found in the vicinity. It was continued about four 
years. Mr. Jackson was an Englishman and occupied a respect- 
able position. He twice represented the town in the General 
Court. 

[The old Lynn Light Infantry was organized this year. 

[Reuben P. Washburn, a native of Leicester, Mass., commenced 
the practice of law, at Lynn. His ofiice was in the building 
so long occupied by Caleb Wiley for a West India goods store, 
at the corner of Federal street and the Turnpike. He graduated 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1813. 373 

at Dartmouth College, with the class of 1808, and studied law 
under Judge Jackson, at Boston. He procured his education 
and made his way in the world by his own exertions. While at 
Lynn he married a daughter of Rev. Mr. Thacher. He was a per- 
sonal friend of Judge Story and other eminent men both in law 
and letters. Considering the business of the place, his practice 
could not have been large, here, and he removed to Vermont, 
in 1817. There he became a judge, and to the end of his life 
maintained a high position, and preserved an unsullied reputa- 
tion. He died in 1860, at the age of 79.] 

1813. 

Rev, Thomas Cushing Thacher discontinued his connection 
with the First Parish. The people gave him a vecommendation 
and made him a present of eight hundred dollars. He was a 
son of Rev. Peter Thacher, minister of Brattle Street Church, 
in Boston. He graduated in 1790, was ordained in 1794, 
preached nineteen years, and removed to Cambridge. He 
wrote many good sermons, six of which, on interesting pcca- 
sions, he published. 

1. A Sermon on the Annual Thanksgiving, 1794. 

2. A Sermon on the Interment of Eight Seamen, 1795, 

3. A Eulogy on the Death of Washington, 1800. 

4. A Sermon on the Death of Mrs. Ann Carnes, 1800. 

5. A Masonic Address, derlivered at Cambridge. 

6. A Sermon on the Death of Mr. Shorey and AVife, 1803. 
[Mr. Thacher died at Cambridge, 24 September, 1849, He 

was born at Maiden, 11 October, 1771. His wife was Elizabeth 
Blaney ; and she survived him, living till September, 1858, 
when she died at South Reading, aged 88.] 

At a town meeting in March, thirty-nine tithing-men were 
chosen. This was for the purpose of enforcing the Sunday law, 
that no person should -journey on the Sabbath, 

The schooner Industry was fitted out as a privateer, under 
the command of Capt. Joseph Mudge, and sent in three prizes — 
two brigs and one ship. 

On the first of June, the people of Lynn were called forth by 
an occasion of unusual interest. The English frigate Shannon, 
Capt. Brock, being expressly fitted for the purpose, approached 
the harbor of Boston, and challenged the American frigate 
Chesapeake, to battle. The hills and the house tops were 
crowded with spectators, who looked on with intense solicitude. 
The Chesapeake, commanded by Capt. James Lawrence, sailed 
out beyond Nahant, and engaged with her adversary. After a 
short and spirited conflict, Capt. Lawrence fell, the colors of 
the Chesapeake were lowered, an*d the Shannon, with her prize, 
departed for Halifax. 
F2 



374 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1813. 

The new Methodist meeting-house was dedicated on the 3d 

of June. 

Rev. Isaac Hurd was ordained pastor of the First Parish, on 
the 15th of September. 

This year, many racoons, driven by the war from the north, 
were shot at Swampscot; and a wild cat, after a deperate resist- 
ance, was killed at Red Rock. [It can easily be imagined that 
wild animals have no partiality for gunpowder. But it seems 
hardly reasonable to suppose that the war could have had much 
influence in driving the racoons hither, inasmuch as there were 
military movements here as well as at the north. Such animals 
abounded a short distance back, and some necessities touching 
their food may have induced their descent. They had always 
been found hereabout; occasionally in considerable numbers. 
As late as November, 1829, four were killed in the barn on the 
Carnes place, Boston street, two of them weighing fifteen pounds 
each.] 

The celebrated Mary Pitcher, a professed fortune-teller, died 
April 9, 1813, aged 75 years. Her grandfather, John Dimond, 
lived at Marble"head, and for many years exercised the same 
pretensions. Her father, Capt. John Dimond, was inaster of a 
vessel from that place, and was living in 1770. Mary Dimond 
was born in the year 1738. She was connected with some of 
the best families in Essex county, and, with* the exception of 
her extraordinary pretensions, there was nothing disreputable in 
her life or character. She was of the medium height and size 
for a woman, with a good form and agreeable manners. Her 
head, phrenologically considered, was somewhat capacious; her 
forehead broad and full, her hair dark brown, her nose inclining 
to long, and her face pale and thin. There was nothing gross 
or sensual in her appearance — her countenance was rather 
intellectual ; and she had that contour of face and expression 
which, without being positively beautiful, is, nevertheless, deci- 
dedly interesting — a thoughtful, pensive, and sometimes down- 
cast look, almost approaching to melancholy ^^ an eye, when it 
looked at you, of calm and keen penetration — and an expres- 
sion of intelligent discernment, half mingled with a glance of 
shrewdness. She took a poor man for a husband, and then 
adopted what she doubtless thought the harmless employment 
of fortune-telling, in order to support her children. In this she 
was probably more successful than she herself had anticipated ; 
and she became celebrated, not only throughout America, but 
throughout the world, for her skill. There was no port on 
either continent, where floated the flag of an American ship, 
that had not heard the fame of Moll Pitcher. To her came the 
rich and the poor — the wise and the ignorant — the accom- 
plished and the vulgar — the timid and the brave. The ignorant 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1813. 375 

sailor, who believed in the omens and dreams of superstition, and 
the intelligent merchant, whose ships were freighted for distant 
lands, alike sought her dwelling; and many a vessel has been 
deserted by its crew, and waited idly at the wharves, for weeks, 
in consequence of her unlucky predictions. Many persons came 
from places far remote, to consult her on affairs of love, or loss 
of property ; or to obtain her surmises respecting the vicissi- 
tudes of their future fortune. Every youth, who was not 
assured of the reciprocal affection of his fair one, and every 
maid who was desirous of anticipating the hour of her highest 
felicity, repaired at evening to her humble dwelling, which stood 
on what was then a lonely road, near the foot of High Rock, 
with the single dwelling of Dr. Henry Burchsted nearly oppo- 
site ; over whose gateway were the two bones of a great whale, 
disposed in the form of a gothic arch. There, in her unpretend- 
ing mansion, for more tlian fifty years, did she answer the 
inquiries of the simple rustic from the wilds of New Hampshire, 
and the wealthy noble from Europe ; and, doubtless, her predic- 
tions have had an influence in shaping the fortunes of thou- 
sands. 

Mrs. Pitcher was, indeed, one of the most wonderful women 
of any age ; and had she lived in the days of alleged witchcraft, 
would doubtless have been the first to suffer. That she ac- 
quired her intelligence by intercourse with evil spirits, it would 
now be preposterous to assert — and it requires a very great 
stretch of credulity to believe that she arrived at so many 
correct conclusions, merely by guess-work. That she made no 
pretension to any thing supernatural, is evident from her own 
admission, when some one offered her a large sum, if she would 
tell him what ticket in the lottery would draw the highest prize. 
"Do you think," said she, ''if I knew, I would not buy it my- 
self?" Several of the best authenticated anecdotes which are 
related of her, seem to imply that she possessed, in some degree, 
the faculty which is now termed clairvoyance. Indeed, there 
seems to be no other conclusion, unless we suppose that per- 
sons of general veracity have told us absolute falsehoods. The 
possession of this faculty, with her keen perception and shrewd 
judgment, in connection with the ordinary art which she admit- 
ted to have used, to detect the character and business of her 
visitors, will perhaps account for all that is extraordinaiy in her 
intelligence. In so many thousand instances also, of the exer- 
cise other faculty, there is certainly no need of calling in super- 
natural aid to account for her sometimes judging right; and 
these favorable instances were certain to be related to her 
advantage, and insured her abundance of credibility. She mar- 
ried Robert Pitcher, a shoemaker, on the 2d of October, 1760. 
Had she married differently, as she might have done, she would 



376 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1^16. 



Sigoatui-e of Moll Pitcher. 



have adorned a brighter and a happier station in life, and the 
world would never have heard of her fame. [The period in 
which she lived was one in which the education of females was 
very little regarded ; yet it is evident that she was by no means 
destitute of education. A fac- 
simile of her signature is here 
given. It was engraved, with 
great care, from her signature 
on a deed dated in 1770, con- 
veying a piece of land near her 
habitation.] She had one son, John, and three daughters, Re- 
becca, Ruth, and Lydia, who married respectably ; and some 
of her descendants are among the prettiest young ladies of 
Lynn. Nor is there any reason why they should blush at the 
mention of their ancestress. While it is hoped that no one, in 
this enlightened age, will follow her profession, it must be 
admitted that she had virtues which many might practice with 
advantage. She supported her family by her skill, and she was 
benevolent in her disposition. She has been known to rise 
before sunrise, walk two miles to a mill, purchase a quantity of 
meal, and carry it to a poor widow, who would otherwise have 
had no breakfast for her children. 

[The cottage in which this remarkable woman so long dwelt, 
may still be seen. It stands on the north side of Essex street, 
nearly opposite Pearl. But population has so increased in the 
vicinity that it is now very far from being in a lonely place. 
The hum of business is heard around, and numerous pretentious 
edifices look down upon its modest roof. Within a short time 
it has undergone repairs, and, together with its surroundings 
has been made to assume more of a modern appearance. Its 
essential features, however, remain unchanged ; and the follow- 
ing is a faithful representation of it as it was.] 




rs/?ivr/vF/J'^vss^^u- - 



MOLL pitcher's HOUSE. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1814. 377 



1814. 

[Samuel W. Coggshall was drowned in Saiigua river, 1 May. 
He was a son of Capt. Timothy Coggshall, of Newport, R. I., 
and 29 years of age.] 

Tlie district of Lynnfield, which was separated from Lynn on 
the 3d of July, 1782, was this year incorporated as a town, on 
the 28th of February. 

On the 28th of February, also, the Lynn Mechanics Bank was 
incorporated, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. 

The erection of the Town House, on the Common, was begun 
in February. 

A company of militia, consisting of seventy-eight men from 
Essex county, was detached, in July, for the defense of the 
sea coast. Of this number, Lynn furnished fifteen, and the 
whole were placed under the command of Capt. Samuel Mudge, 
of Lynn. On the first of August, they mustered at Danvers, 
and on the next day marched to Salem, and encamped on Win- 
ter Island. On the 27th, a violent storm blew down most of 
the tents, and on the next day the detachment removed to Fort 
Lee. On the night of the 28th of September, a great alarm 
was occasioned by some men who were drawing a seine at 
Beverly. Alarm guns were fired about midnight, and in less 
than thirty minutes the Salem regiment was drawn up for orders. 
Nearly sixty old men of that town also took their arms, went 
directly to the fort, and patriotically offered ther services to 
Captain Mudge. The alarm spread to the neighboring towns, 
and within an hour the Lynn regiment was in arms, and on its 
march toward Salem. The promptitude with which these two 
regiments were formed, the selfpossession manifested by the 
ofllcers and soldiers, and the readiness with which they marched 
toward what was then confidently believed to be a scene of 
action and danger, is worthy of commendation. The company 
was discharged on the first of November. During a considera- 
ble part of this season, guards were stationed in Lynn, on Long 
Wharf and Saugus Bridge. The town, with its accustomed 
liberality, allowed to each of its soldiers, who went into service, 
thirty dollars in addition to the pay of the government, which 
was only eight dollars a month. The town received a hundred 
muskets from the State, and a hundred old men volunteered to 
use them. 

In a great sleet and rain storm, on the night of November 
19th, Mr. Ward Hartwell, of Charlemont, perished in attempting 
to pass Lynn Beach, to Nahant. He lost his way and drove 
into the water. 

An earthquake happened on the 28th of November, at twenty 
minutes past seven in the evening. 
F2* 



378 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1815. 

[The manufacture of linen goods was this year commenced 
by the " Lynn Linen Spinning Factory Company.'' They built 
a factory of wood, three stories high, on the east side of Saugus 
river, and commenced with the manufacture of sail duck. But 
the termination of the war with England afforded facilities for 
procuring linen goods from abroad at such reduced prices that 
the business was soon abandoned. Some linen, however, was 
made in Lynn long before this ; but it was probably more like 
the ordinary tow cloth. See under date 1726.] 

1815. 

The Saugus parish was incorporated as a separate town, on 
the 17th of February. 

A treaty of peace* with England, which was signed at Ghent, 
on the 24th of December, 1814, was ratified by Congress, on 
the 17th of February. 

This year the First Baptist Church in Lynn was organized, 
on the 17th of March. In May, the meeting-house which the 
Methodist society had vacated, was purchased for their use. It 
is worthy of remark, that this building was placed upon land 
purchased of the First Congregational Church — that very 
church which had persecuted the Baptists, and delivered them 
up to the executioner, a hundred and sixty-four years before. 
[No Baptists were executed. Some were banished, and others 
fined. It is worthy of remark, also, that this building was, last 
of all, occupied by the Roman Catholics, that Church which 
Baptists, Congregationalists, and Methodists, as well as all other 
protestant bodies delight to traduce. It was burned on Satur- 
day night, 28 May, 1859. And so closed its eventful history. 

[In Brooks's history of Medford it is stated that at this time, 
when only a few persons resided at Nahant, it was the custom 
for families in Medford to join in parties to that beautiful prom- 
ontory. From ten to twenty chaises would start together, and, 
reaching their destination, the ladies and gentlemen, girls and 
boys, would proceed to fishing from the rocks and boats. Each 
one wore the commonest clothes ; and the day was passed in 
all sorts of sports. A fish dinner was an agreed part of the 
fare; and a supper at Lynn Hotel closed the eating for the day. 
The party rode home by moonlight; and by ten o'clock were 
sufficiently fatigued to accept the bed as a most agreeable finale. 
And such parties often came from Maiden, Reading, Stoneham, 
and places more remote. The dinners were generally cooked 
by the parties themselves, over fires built among the rocks, 
a sufficient supply of drift wood being gleaned from the shores. 
They were right jolly times, and involved little expense,] 

A very great storm, on the 23d of September, occasioned 
much damage. The wind blew violently from the southeast, 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1816. 379 

and buildings, fences, and trees, fell before it. A part of the 
roof of the Academy was taken off, and carried by the wind more 
than half way across the Common. The spray of the ocean 
was borne far upon the land, and the fruit on trees several 
miles from the shore was impregnated with salt. 

1816. 

[The first Methodist Society in Lynnfield, was organized on 
the 2d of April.] 

The Baptist society was incorporated on the 15th of April ; 
and on the 15th of September, Rev. George Phippen was settled 
as their first minister. 

Rev. Isaac Hurd relinquished his pastoral care over the First 
Congregational Society, on the 22d of May. He was born at 
Charlestown, [in December, 1785, and graduated at Cambridge, 
in 180G. From Lynn he removed to Exeter, N, H., where he 
was installed over the Second Church of that place, September 
11, 1817. There he remained till his death, which took place a 
few years since. 

[The summer of this year was very cool, and little corn 
ripened. There was a frost in every month ; and snoAV fell on 
the 8th of June. The 23d of June, however, was excessively 
hot, the thermometer rising to 101 degrees, in the shade. 

[The Quaker meeting-house was built on Broad street, this 
year; and it stood on its original site till 1852, when it was 
moved back some rods and made to face on Silsbe street. For 
facts relating to the earlier Quaker meeting-houses see under 
dates 1678 and 1723. 

[A great horse trot took place on Friday, September 6. The 
course was on the Turnpike, and extended three miles toward 
Boston, from Saugus river bridge. This is said to have been 
the first regular trot in the country ; and it was attended by a 
great multitude of spectators, from far and near, A horse called 
Old Blue, owned by Major Stackpole, trotted three miles in 
eight minutes and forty-two seconds. The same horse, four 
days after, trotted the same distance in eight minutes and fifty- 
six seconds, and again, two days after that, the same distance in 
eight minutes and eighteen and three quarter seconds. 

[This year another attempt was made to establish the manu- 
facture of linen in this vicinity. Nathaniel Perry built a dam 
over the brook in North Saugus, and erected a large wooden 
building in which he designed to spin and weave a finer kind 
of linen. He did not, however, succeed in his enterprise. 

[Isaac Burrill, who lived near Saugus river bridge, on Boston 
street, while returning from Boston, on a cold, moonlight night, 
was robbed, on the Turnpike, by three highwaymen. He was 
a shoe manufacturer, on a small scale, and was walking home 



380 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1817, 18l^. 

from Boston with a bag of articles which he bad received in 
exchange for shoes disposed of during the day. He had also a 
small sum of money in his pocket. When near a small shanty, 
which stood on the south of the Turnpike, perhaps a mile west 
of the Halfway House, and which had been erected for the 
convenience of laborers on the marshes, three men rushed out 
and forced him into the building. There they robbed him of all 
he had of value, and bound him, hand and foot, with raw hemp. 
They then left him, with the threat of instant death if he should 
make any outcry before the mail stage had passed, adding that 
they intended to rob that. He kept silence for the time speci- 
fied, but they did not return. By straining and kicking he 
'finally succeeded in releasing his feet, and soon reached the 
Half-way House. The robbers were never caught. He said 
they assured him that nothing but shear necessity impelled 
them to the act. There was no attempt to rob the mail, the 
pretense about that probably being for the purpose of keeping 
him quiet while they made good their escape. His pocketbook 
was found, weeks after, in Cambridgeport, in a ditch.] 

In November, new bells were placed on the First Congrega- 
tional and First Methodist meeting-houses. 

1817. 

Friday, the 14th of February, was an exceedingly cold day. 
The thermometer was eighteen degrees below zero. 

There was an earthquake on Sunday, 7 September, and an- 
other on 5 October. 

This year, Hon. Thomas H. Perkins built the first stone cot- 
tage on Nahant. 

President Munroe passed through Lynn. 

[The prices of provisions were very high, in Lynn, at this 
time. From the old book of a respectable shoe manufocturer 
it appears that flour was $16 a barrel, Indian meal $2 a bushel, 
molasses 70 cents a gallon, young hyson tea $1.60 a pound, and 
brown sugar 18 cents a pound.] 

1818. 

[Herbert Richardson, jr., aged 24, and Charlotte Palmer, aged 
20, were drowned in the Shawsheen river, on their way to Lynn- 
field, where they were to be married, the same evening, March .3. 

[There was a very long storm in April. A memorandum 
made by Major Ezra Hitchings, who kept a store on Boston 
street, says it " began to snow the second of April, at eleven 
o'clock, and continued to snow and rain alternately till the 
tenth, at six o'clock in the evening."] 

Rev. Otis Rockwood was ordained pastor of the First Congre- 
gational Church, on the 1st of July. 



'' ANNALS OF LYNN — 1819. 381 

A stone building, for a school-honse and library, was built at 
Nahant, and several hundred volumes were presented by gentle- 
men from Boston. 

The First Social Library at Lynn was incorporated. [But it 
would be a mistake to suppose that the first library was formed 
this year. There was a good social library here before the 
commencement of the present century, and Mr. Thacher acted 
as librarian during a part of his ministry. The library incor- 
porated this year became a useful institution, and was continued, 
much according to its original organization, till it was merged 
in the Lynn Library Association, incorporated in March. 1855. 
And finally, in 1862, the collection went to form the basis of the 
adjective-afHicted "Lynn Free Public Library." At the last 
mentioned date the number of volumes was about 4,100. No 
doubt care will be exercised to increase the value of this insti- 
tution. A free library, especially, should be composed of only 
such books as will exert a healthful influence ; it should be a 
corrector, not a follower, of public taste. The books of such a 
library, whatever they are, will be extensively read ; and if it 
contai-us none but good ones, the influence must be highly bene- 
ficial. The circulating library, as it is called, stands on a very 
different footing, and is in some sense beyond the control of 
those who may stand in the attitude of conservators of the 
pu-blic weal.] 

1819. 

.. The winter was unusually mild, with little snow, and the 
harbor scarcely frozen. Farmers ploughed in every month ; 
January was like April, and the spring was forward and warm. 
[The principal snow storm was on the 8th of March.] 

The first attempt to form an Episcopal Church in Lynn, was 
made this year. A few persons were organized as a Church on 
the 27th of Januarj^, and continued to worship in the Academy 
about four years. 

On the olst of January, Jonathan Mansfield was drowned in 
theFlax pond. On the 6th of April, Wrlliam Phillips was drown- 
ed in the Pines river. On the 4th of September, Asa Gowdey 
was drowned near the mouth of Saugus river. 

[The first Missionary Society of the great Methodist Church 
was formed in Lynn, on the 21st of February. The General 
Missionary Societ}'- was not organized till the 4th of April.] 

Tuesday, July 6, was an exceeding warm day. The thermom- 
eter rose to 120 degrees in the sun. 

A farm of about fifty acres was purchased by the town, and a 
new poor-house built on Willis's hill. [I do not understand 
why Mr. Lewis, here and in one or two other places, calls this 
"Willis's hill. No one else appears to have done so. True, one 



3S2 ANNALS OF LYNN- — 1819. 

of the early settlers, named Willis, owned lands hereabout, but 
the hill does not appear to have been called by his name. 

[Isaiah Newhall, a shoemaker, who lived on Federal street, 
made in three consecutive days, fifty one pairs of ladies' springs 
heel shoes. The price of making, was thirty-three cents per 
pair.] 

This year the Nahant Hotel was built, by Hon. Thomas H. 
Perkins and Hon. Edward H, Robbins, at an expense of about 
sixty thousand dollars. 

That singular marine animal, called the Sea-serpent, first made 
his appearance in the waters of Lynn this year. It was alleged 
that it had been seen in August, 1817 and 1818, in Gloucester 
harbor. On the 13th and 14th days of August, this year, many 
hundred persons were collected on Lynn Beach, by a report 
that it was to be seen. Many depositions have been taken of'! 
its subsequent appearance. It was represented to have been 
from 50 to 70 feet in length, as large as a barrel, moving swiftly, 
sometimes with its head several feet above the tide. I have not 
seen such an animal, but perhaps it exists ; and it may be one 
of the mighty existing relics of a buried world. In 1638, Dr. 
John Josselyn tells us of " A Sea Serpent or Snake, that lay 
quoiled up, like a cable, upon a Rock at Cape Ann. A boat 
passing by, with English aboard and two Indians, they would 
have shot the serpent, but the Indians disswaded them, saying 
that if he were not killed outright, they would be in danger of 
their lives." 

[It may be thought that so celebrated a wande*rer of the sea 
is deserving of a little more extended notice than Mr. Lewis has 
afforded. The learned Agassiz says, in a lecture delivered at 
Philadelphia, 20 March, 1849, "I have asked myself in connec- 
tion with this subject, whether there is not such an animal as 
the Sea-serpent. There are many who will doubt the existence 
of such a creature until it can be brought under the dissecting 
knife ; but it has been seen by so many on whom we may rely, 
that it is wrong to doubt any longer. The truth is, however, 
that if a naturalist had to sketch the outlines of an Ichthyosau- 
rus or Plesiosaurus from the remains we have of them, he would 
make a drawing very similar to the Sea-serpent as it has been 
described. There is reason to think that the parts are soft and 
perisliable, but I still consider it probable that it will be the 
good fortune of some person on the coast of Norway or North 
America to find a living representative of this type of reptile,' 
which is thouglit to have died out." 

[The late prominent Boston merchant and worthy gentleman,^ 
Amos Lawrence, under date 26 April 1849, writes, "I have 
never had any doubt of the existence of the Sea-serpent since 
the morning he was seen off Nahant by old Marshal Prince, 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1819. 383 

through his famous mast-head spy-glass. For, within the next 
two hours, I conversed with Mr. Samuel Cabot, and Mr. Daniel 
P. Parker, I think, and one or more persons besides, who had 
spent a part of that morning in witnessing its movements. In 
addition. Col. Harris, the commander at Port Independence, told 
me that the creature had been seen by a number of his soldiers 
while standing sentry in the early dawn, some time before this 
show at Nahant; and Col. Harris believed it as firmly as though 
t-he creature were drawn up before us in State street, where we 
then were. I again say, I have never, from that day to this, 
>had a doubt of the Sea-serpent's existence." 
I [The Mr. Cabot to whom Mr. Lawrence refers gave a descrip- 
tion of the animal in a letter to Col. T. II. Perkins, dated 19 
August, 1819, from which the following is extracted: 

I got into my chaise [at Nahaiit] about seven o'clock in the morning, to 
come to Boston, and on reaching tiie Long Beach, observed a number of 
people collected there, and several boats pusliing off and in the offing. I was 
speculatmg on what should have occasioned so great an assemblage there 
without any apparent object, and finally had concluded that they were some 
Xiynn people who were embarking in those boats on a party of pleasure to 
Egg Rock or some other point. I had not heard of tlie Sea-serpent as being 
in that neighborhood, and I had not lately paid mucli attention to the evidences 
which had been given of its existence ; the idea of this animal did not enter 
my mind at the moment. As my curiosity was directed toward the boats, to 
ascertain the course they were taking, my attention was suddenly arrested by 
an object emerging from the water at the distance of about one liundred or one 
hundred and fifty yards, which gave to my mind, at the first glance, the idea 
of a horse's head. As my eye ranged along, I perceived, at a short distance, 
eight or ten regular bunches or protuberances, and, at a short niterval, three 
or four more. I was now satisfied that the Sea-serpent was before me, and, 
after the first moment of excitement produced by the unexpected sight of so 
sti'ange a monster, taxed myself to investigate his appearance as accurately as 
I could. My first object was the head, wliich I satisfied myself was serpent 
sha})ed. It was elevated about two feet from the water, and he depressed it 
.radually, to within six or eight inches as he moved along. I could always 
see under his chin, which appeared to hollow underneath, or to curve down- 
ward. His motion was at that time vei-y slow along the beach, inclining 
toward the shore. He at first moved his head from side to side, as if to look 
about him. I did not see his eyes, though I have no doubt I could have seen 
them if I had thought to attend to this. His bunches appeared to me not alto- 
getiier uniform in size ; and as he moved along, some appeared to be deyiressed, 
and otliers brought above the surfiice, though I could not perceive any motion 
in them. My next object was to ascertain his length. For this purpose, I 
directed my eye to several whale-lwats at about the same distance, one of 
which was beyond him, and, by comparing the relative length, I calculated 
that tlie distance from the animal's iiead to the last protuberance I had noticed 
• would be equal to about five of those boats. I felt persuaded by this examina- 
tion tliat he could not be less than eighty feet long. As he approached tlie 
shore and came between me and a point of land which projects from the end 
of the beach, I had another means of satisfying myself on this point. After I 
had viewed him thus attentively for about four or five minutes, he sank gradu- 
ally into tlie water and disappeared. He afterward again made his appear- 
ance for a moment at a short distance. . . . After remaining some two or 
three hours on tiie beach, without again seeing him, I returned toward Naiiant, 



384 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1819. 



and, in crossing the Small Beach, had another good view of him for a longer 
time, but at a greater distance. At this time he moved more rapidly, causing 
a white foam under the chin, and a long wake, and hjs protuberances had a 
more uniform appearance. At this time he must have been seen by two or 
three hundred persons on the beach and on heights each side, some of whom 
were very favorably situated to observe him. 

[James Prince, Esq., Marshal of the District, to whom Mr. 
Lawrence also refers, writes as follows to Hon. Judge Davis, 
under date 16 August: 

Mt Dear Sir: — I presume I may have seen what is generally thought to 
be the Sea-serpent. I have also seen my name inserted in the evening news- 
])aper printed at Boston on Saturday, in a communication on this subject. 
For your gratification, and from a desire that my name may not sanction any 
thing beyond what was actually presented and passed in review before me, I 
will now state that which, in tlie presence of more than two hundred other 
witnesses, took place near the Long Beach of Nahant, on Saturday morning 
last. 

Intending to pass two or three days with my family at Nahant, we left Bos- 
ton early on Saturday morning. On passing the Half-way House on the Salem 
turnpike, Mr. Smith informed us the Sea-serpent had been seen the evening 
before at Nahant beach, and that a vast number of people from Lynn had gone 
to the beach tliat morning in hopes of being gratified with a siglit of him ; this 
was confirmed at the Hotel. I was glad to find I had brought my famous 
mast-head spy-glass with me, as it would enable me, from its foi-m and size, 
to view him to advantage, if I might be so fortunate as to see him. On our 
arrival on the beach, we associated with a considerable collection of persons 
on foot and in chaises ; and very soon an animal of the fish kind made his 
appearance . . . 

His head appeared about three feet out of water ; I counted thii-teen bunches 
on his back ; my family thought tliei-e were fifteen. He passed three times at 
a moderate rate across the bay, but so fleet as to occasion a foam in the water ; 
and my family and self, who were in a carriage, judged that he was from fifty 
to not more than sixty feet in length. Whether, however, the wake might not 
add to the appearance of his length, or whether the undulations of the water 
or his peculiar manner of propelling himself might not cause the appearances 
of protTiberances, I leave for your better judgment. The first view of the 
animal occasioned some agitation, and the novelty perhaps prevented that 
precise discrimination which afterward took place. As he swam up the bay, 
we and the other spectators moved on and kept nearly abreast of liim. He 
occasionally withdrew himself under water, and the idea occurred to me that 
his occasionally raising his head above the level of the water was to take 
breath, as the time he kept under was, on an average, alwut eight minutes. 
. . . Mrs. Prince and the coachman having better eyes than myself were of 
great assistance to me in marking the progress of the animal; they would say, 
"He is now turning," and by the aid of my glass I saw him distinctly in this 
movement. He did not turn without occupying some space, and, taking into 
view the time and the space which he found necessary for his ease and accom- 
modation, I adopted it as a criterion to form some judgment of his length. I 
had seven distinct views of hinj from the Long Beach, so called, and at some 
of them the animal was not more than a hundred yards distant. After 
being on the Long Beach with other spectators about an hour, the animal dis- 
appeared, and I proceeded on towards Nahant; but on passing the c^econd 
beach, I met Mr. James Magee, of Boston, with several ladies, in a carriage, 
prompted by curiosity to endeavor to see the animal ; and we were again 
gratified beyond even what we saw in the other bay, which I concluded he 
had left in consequence of the number of boats in the offing in pursuit of him, 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1819. 385 

the noise of whose oars must have disturbed him, as he appeared to us to be a 
harmless, timid animal. We had here more than a dozen different views ot' 
him, and eaci) similar to the other; one, however, so near, that the coachman 
exclaimed, " O, see his glistening eye ! " . . . Certain it is, he is a very strange 
animal. 

[Among the papers left by the late Benjamin F. Newhall, of 
Saugns — than whom no man in the community stood higher 
for truthfulness — I find an interesting account of what he wit- 
nessed of the seeming gambols of the monster, who appeared 
to him also to be a timid animal. As he approached the shore, 
at about nine a. m., says Mr. N., he raised his head apparently 
about six feet, and moved very rapidly ; " I could see the white 
spray each side of his neck, as he ploughed through the water." 
He came so near as to startle many of the spectators, and then 
suddenly retreated. '' As he turned short, the snake-like form 
became apparent, bending like an eel. I could see plainly what 
appeared to be from fifty to seventy feet in length. Behind his 
head appeared a succession of bunches, or humps, upon his 
back, which the sun caused to glisten like glass." 

[And, lastly, the writer well remembers traveling down to the 
Beach, with other barefoot urchins, on the memorable day, but 
arrived too late — the serpent had gone and the multitude were 
dispersing. Boastful boys declared that they could have thrown 
stones beyond him as he ranged about there in the morning. 

[The following is copied as a fair specimen of the pictorial 
representations of the Sea-serpent which were given at the 
time. I do not find, however, in the written descriptions, that 
he was in the habit of carrying his tail in that style. And con- 
sidering the use that serpents in general put that appendage to, 
it would seem improbable that if he belonged to the tribe he 
would have displayed it in that manner, which is much like a 
ship carrying her rudder above water. 



THE SEA-SERPENT. 

[A small work, somewhat odd in style but evidently the pro- 
duction of a person of intehigence and ingenuitv, was published 
at Cambridge, in 1849, under the title, " A Rom'ance of the Sea- 
serpent, or the Ichthyosaurus." It contains, in the Notes and 
Appendix, divers interesting matters relating to sea monsters. 
Two editions were readily disposed of, the author informs me. 

[For several years succeeding this alleged visit of the Sea- 
G2 ^ 25 



386 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1820, 1821. 

serpent, accounts were spread from time to time of his appearance 
at different points on the coast. And so many false reports were 
made for the transparent purpose of attracting visitors to the 
marine resorts, that doubts increased as to the existence of tliis 
solitary rover of the deep. Little has been heard of him of late 
years. In 1849, however, John Marston, a respectable and 
credible resident of Swarapscot, appeared before. Waldo Thomp- 
son, a justice of the peace, and made oath that as he was walking 
over Nahant Beach, on the 3d of August, his attention was sud- 
denly arrested by seeing in the water, within two or three 
hundred yards of the shore, a singular looking fish, in the form 
of a serpent. He had a fixir view of him, and at once concluded 
that he was the veritable Sea-serpent. His head was out of 
water to the extent of about a foot, and he remained in view 
from fifteen to twenty minutes, when he swam off toward King's 
Beach. Mr. Marston judged that the animal v/as from eighty 
to a hundred feet in length, at least, and says, " I saw the 
whole body of the serpent; not his wake, but the fish itself. It 
would rise in the water with an undulatory motion, and then all 
his body would sink, except his head. Then his body would 
rise again. His head was above water all the time. This was 
about eight o'clock A. M. It was quite calm. I have been 
constantly engaged in fishing, since my youth, and I have seen 
all sorts of fishes, and hundreds of horse-mackerel, but I never 
before saw any thing like this."] 

1820. „ 

On the 14th of February, two barns, belonging to Mr. Joseph 
Breed, in Summer street, were burnt by the carelessness of a 
boy. The people by a subscription, built him a good barn 
immediately, which they stocked with hay. 

[India rubber over-shoes first made their appearance about 
this time. They were made much thicker and heavier than at 
present. Pattens, clogs, and goloeshoes were in use for keep- 
ing the feet dry, before rubbers were known; but they all, to 
some extent, failed of their purpose. 

[There were six tanneries in Lynn, this year. But before 
1833 they were all discontinued, as leather could be procured 
from Philadelphia and other places at such rates as rendered 
them unprofitable.] 

1821. 

On the 25th of January, the thermometer was 17 degrees 
below zero. 

[There was a violent northeast snow storm, on the 17th of 
April. It was so severe as to prevent the assembling of a quo- 
rum of the house of representatives, at Boston.] 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1822. 387 

Rev, Joseph Mottey died on the 9th of July. He was horn 
at Salera, May 14, 1756, and pjraduated at Dartmouth, in 1778. 
He was ordained over the Lynnfield parish, Septemher 24, 
1780. He was characterized by extreme sensibility, and fond- 
ness for retirement. His manners were affable, and his mode 
of preaching mild and persuasive. He married Elizabeth bloody 
and had four children ; Charles, Elias, Charles Edward, and Eliza. 

18 2 2. 

A considerable disturbance was this year occasioned in th^ 
meetings of Friends, in consequence of a portion of that society 
having embraced different views. On Sunday, the 17th of Feb- 
ruary, one of these essa3'ed to go into the ministers' gallery, 
with a sword b}' his side, which he said was an emblem of the 
warlike disposition of those against whom he wished to bear 
testimony ; but before he had reached the seat, he was stopped, 
and the sword taken awa3\ In the afternoon the disturbance 
was renewed, by several persons attempting to enter the high 
seats ; and many people having assembled about the house, the 
deputy sheriff was called from the First Parish meeting-house, 
who read the riot act in the street. Four persons were appre- 
hended, and after an examination, the next day, before a justice, 
■were committed to prison, at Salem, where they remained until 
the time of their trial, at Ipswich, on the 16th of March. Two 
of them were then discharged, and the others were fined. A 
report of this trial was published, with a review in a separate 
pamphlet. 

The first Circulating Library at Lynn was opened this year, 
by the author of this sketch. [This was a very limited collection, 
and may have formed the basis of a small circulating library 
kept by Charles F. Lummus from 1827 to 1832. 

[A singular phenomenon was witnessed at Saugus river, in 
March, and is thus described by the late Benjamin F. Newhall, 
of Saugus, who was careful in noting unusual occurrences: 
" The ice in the river had just broken up, and the dam at the 
bridge was overflowed with a large volume of fresh water. It 
was in the evening succeeding a very foggy day, and as dark 
as a foggy night with no moon could possil»ly be. In looking 
under the great bridge, where the waters swiftly poured over 
the dam, my eyes were greeted with the appearance of balls of 
fire, about the size of a large cannon ball. They made their 
appearance as soon as the water broke over the dam, and 
seemed to dance and whirl about upon the swiftly rushing tor- 
rent for a moment or two, and then disappear, to be succeeded 
by others. The light of these apparent balls of fire was so 
great that the whole space under the bridge was illuminated to 
that extent that all objects were clearly visible. So striking 



388 ANNALS OF LYNN— 1823, 1824. 

and beautiful was the phenomenon, that I summoned several 
persons from the neighborhood to come and witness it. The 
balls of fire were continuous that niglit as long as we had pa- 
tience to look at them. There was no eppearance of that phos- 
phorescent sparkling that is often seen about the bows of a 
vessel. There was no light but what seemed to be balls of fire. 
They were not seen at all on the succeeding evening, and have 
never been seen since." 

The Second Congregational Society [Unitarian] was incorpo- 
rated on the 15th of June ; and on the 25th of November, the 
corner stone of the first Unitarian meeting-house was laid with 
an address by Rev. Joseph Tuckerraan, of Chelsea. 

As some workmen were this year digging a cellar, in Liberty 
street, they found the skeleton of an Indian. It was more than 
six feet in length, and the skull was of an uncommon thickness. 
Two large clam shells were found buried with it. 

1823. 

The coldest day this year, was the 1st of March. The ther- 
mometer was seven degrees below zero. 

The Unitarian Meeting-house was dedicated on the 30th of 
April. Sermon by Rev. Henry Colman. 

On the 5th of May, snow fell, and the ice was a quarter of an 
inch thick. Thermometer twenty-nine at sunrise. 

A young woman named Sarah Soames, aged 19 years, living at 
Thomas Raddin's went in to bathe in Saugus river, on the even- 
ing of June 15, and was drowned. 

[The first Methodist meeting-house in Lynnfield, was dedi- 
cated on the 14th of October.] 

1824. 

The tide, during great storms, had for many years been 
making its encroachments UDon Lynn Beach, washing its sands 
over into the harbor, and sometimes making deep channels, as 
it ran across in rivulets. In compliance with a petition of the 
town, the General Court, on the 18th of February, made a grant 
of $1,500, to which the town added $1,500 more; and by aid 
of this fund, a fence was constructed, about half the length of 
the beach, to prevent the encroachments of the tide. 

On the 6th of May, the ice was a quarter of an inch thick. 
Thermometer twenty-seven at sunrise. 

On the 21st of June, Rev. Joseph Searl was ordained pastor 
of the Congregational society in Lynnfield. He continued his 
connection with that parish, till the 17th of September, 1827, 
when he removed to Stoneham. 

The French General Lafayette, who served in the War of 
Independence, this year came to America, and was received 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1825. 389 

with general gratulation and welcome. He passed through 
Lynn on the 31st of August. He was received at Saugus 
bridge, on the Turnpike, by an escort, consisting of a battalion 
of cavalry, the Lynn Rifle Company, Lynn Light Infantry, the 
oalem Cadets, and a large number of officers and citizens, by 
whom he was conducted to the Lynn Hotel, where an address 
was delivered to him by Capt. John Wjjite, to which he made 
an affectionate reply. After being introduced to many gentle- 
men and ladies, with several revolutionary soldiers, he entered 
an open barouche, and passed through two lines of the children 
of the town, who threw flowers into his carriage as he pro- 
ceeded. A salute of thirteen guns was fired, on his entrance 
into the town ; and another of twenty-four, when he departed. 
On his way he passed through seven beautiful arches, decorated 
with evergreens, flags, and festoons of flowers, and bearing 
inscriptions in honor of Lafayette and Freedom. Proceeding 
through the principal streets, he was received, at the eastern 
boundary of the town, by another escort, and conducted to 
Marblehead. 

Rev. James Diman Greene was ordained pastor of the Unita- 
rian Society, on the 3d of November. 

[That ver}-- ingenious mechanic, Joseph Dixon, lived in Lynn 
at this time. And here he labored on some of those useful 
inventions by which he became so widely known. Among 
other things he directed his attention to the application of 
steam, and was the originator of combinations that proved the 
germs of some of the most gigantic and useful contrivances 
through which that mighty agent works at the present day. 
The New England Farmer, of 21 February, 1824, thus speaks 
of one of his inventions: "We have seen some ingenious ma- 
chinery for heating steam to a high temperature, invented by 
Mr. Joseph Dixon, of Lynn, Mass., which promises to prove of 
much utility." And a particular description is added.] 

1825. 

[The Probate Court was first held at Lynn, on the 4th of Jan- 
uary. And sessions were continued here for about thirty years.] 

For several days, in April, the moon and stars, with the planet 
Venus, were visible for some hours, in the middle of the day. 
There were no clouds, and the sun shone with a dim light. 

On the 20th of April, a piece of land adjoining the Quaker 
burial ground, in Lynn, was purchased by several individuals 
and opened as a free burial ground. This was done because 
that society had refused to permit a child to be buried in their 
ground, without a compliance with their regulations. 

This year Frederic Tudor, Esq., of Boston, built his beautiful 
rustic cottage at Nahant. 
G2* 



390 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1826, 1827. 

On Thursday, the 23d of June, at the commencement of twi- 
light, a remarkable sungush appeared. It proceeded from the 
place of sunsetting, and rose perfectly straight and well-defined, 
to the height of twenty degrees. Its color was a beautiful 
bright red, and its width equal to that of a broad rainbow ; the 
clouds around were variegated with the finest colors, and the 
pageant continued about fifteen minutes. 

[The thermometer rose, 21 July, to 101 degrees in the shade.] 

On Saturday, September 3d, the first newspaper printed in 
Lynn was published by Charles Frederic Lummus, with the 
title of Lynn Weekly Mirror. 

A comet was visible in October, on the right of tne Pleiades, 
with a train about six degrees in length. 

1826. 

The coldest day this winter, was February 1, when the ther- 
mometer was sixteen degrees below zero. 

A schooner, loaded with six hundred bushels of corn, struck 
on a rock off the mouth of Saugus river, on the 12th of April, 
and sunk. 

The festival of St. John, June 24, was celebrated at Lynn, by 
Mount Carmel Lodge, and five other lodges of free masons. The 
address was delivered by Hon. Caleb Cushing, of Newburyport. 

The Lynn Institution for Savings was incorporated on the 
20th of June. 

[A temperance meeting was held at the First Methodist meet- 
ing-house, on the evening of August 12. A hundred and thirty 
members were added to the society, which before numbered 
seventy-one. The object of the society was " the suppression 
of intemperance and its kindred vices."] 

The Quaker meeting-house, in Boston, with the burial ground 
adjoining, having been long disused, and few or none of the 
society remaining in the city, it w^as thought best to remove 
the bones. The remains of one hundred and nine persons were 
taken up and removed to the Quaker burial ground at Lynn. 
Mr. Joseph Hussey, who had two sisters buried at Boston, was 
unwilling that they should be removed with the rest, and caused 
their reiuains, so dear to his memory, to be deposited in the 
cemetery of King's Chapel. 

1827. 
On the 11th of April, the First Congregational meeting-house 
[the Old Tunnel] was removed from the centre of the Common 
to the corner of Commercial street. Its form was changed, a 
new steeple added, and it was dedicated on the 17th of October. 
(It would perhaps be more correct to say that the old house 
was demolished and a new one built, in which a portion of the 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1828. 391 

old materials were used; the new erection bearing no resem- 
blance to the old, either inside or out. The Second Universalist 
Society now occupy tlie house.] 

On the 30th of April, Mr. Paul Xewliall was drowned from a 
fishing boat, at Swampscot, in attempting to pass within Dread 
Ledge. His body was found, uninjured, thirty-nine days after; 
having, it was said, been caused to rise by heavy thunder, which 
agitated the water. 

On tlie night of Thursday, May 10th, a schooner from Kenne- 
beck, loaded with hay and wood, was driven by a storm upon 
Lynn Beach, and dismasted. 

The anniversary of Independence was this year celebrated at 
Woodend. In the procession were thirteen misses, dressed in 
white, wearing chaplets of roses, representing the thirteen 
original states, and eleven younger misses, representing the 
new states. They recited a responsive chorus, written for the 
occasion, and an oration was delivered by the author of this 
history. 

On Tuesday evening, August 28th, a most beautiful pageant 
was displayed in the heavens. During the first part of the 
evening, the northern lights were uncommonly luminous ; and 
at half past nine, a broad and brilliant arch was formed, which 
spanned the entire heavens, from east to west. No one who 
did not behold it, can easily imagine its splendor and sublimity. 
[It was like a splendid rainbow, with the exception of the pris- 
matic colors ; and was so transparent that stars were clearly 
discernible through it. It shot up in a stream of white light 
from the western horizon and extended to the eastern.] 

On several evenings in September, the northern lights were 
exceedingly luminous, sometimes so bright as to cast shadows. 

In the month of November were several great and drifting 
snow storms, and the weather was colder than had been known 
at that season for many years. It was so cold that it froze a 
large water cistern solid, and burst it. 

1828. 

On the 2d .of May, a whale was cast ashore at Whale Beach, 
Swampscot, measuring sixty feet in length, and twenty-five 
barrels of oil were extracted from it. 

An oration was delivered, on the 4th of July, by Eev. James 
Dirnan Green. His conne6tion with the Unitarian Society, was 
dissolved, at his request, on the 4th of August. 

[The Lynn Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organized 
this year — Dr. James Gardner, president, and Benjamin Massay, 
secretary.] 

Flora, a black woman, died on the 1st of October, aged one 
hundred and thirteen years. She was born in Africa, and re- 



392 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1829. 

lated many interesting anecdotes of her conntry. Her father 
was one of the chiefs, and when he died they built a house over 
liim, as they considered it an indignity to suffer the rain to fall 
on his grave. One day a party of slave dealers came and set 
fire to their happy and peaceful village. Her mother was unable 
to run so fast as the rest, and as Flora was unwilling to escape 
without her, she remained and was taken. She had two hus- 
bands and five children in Africa, and three husbands and five 
children in America. She was a sensible and purely pious 
woman, and was greatly respected. 

In a storm, on the 22d of November, a schooner, belonging 
to Freeport, was cast upon the Lobster Rocks. The crew, with 
a lady passenger, immediately left the vessel, which was found 
in the morning, drifted upon Chelsea Beach. 

The Lynn Lyceum was established, 23 December. 

1829. 

One of the most beautiful appearances of nature was presented 
on the morning of Saturday, the 10th of Januar3^ A heavy 
mist had fallen on the preceding evening, and when the sun 
rose, the whole expanse of hill and plain displayed the most 
enchanting and dazzling prospect of glittering frost. The tall 
and branching trees were bent, by the weight of ice, into grace- 
ful arches, and resembled magnificent chandeliers, glittering 
with burnished silver. As far as the eye could reach, all was 
one resplendent surface of polished ice ; and in some places, 
the trees which stood in colonnades, were bent till their tops 
touched together, and formed long arcades of crystal, decorated 
with brilliant pearls, and sparkling with diamonds. But the 
scene in the open village, although so highly beautiful was far 
exceeded by the magnificent lustre of the woods. The majes- 
tic hemlocks bent their heavy branches to the ground, loaded as 
with a weight of gold, and formed delightful bowers, sparkling 
with gems, and illuminated with colored light. The evergreen 
cedars were covered with crystal gold, and glowed with emeralds 
of the deepest green. The silver tops of the graceful birches 
crossed each other, like the gothic arches of some splendid 
temple; while the slender shafts, and the glittering rocks, re- 
sembled columns, and altars, and thrones ; and the precipitous 
cliffs looked down, like towers and battlements of silver ; and 
far above all, the tall pines glittered in the frosty air, like the 
spires of a thousand cathedrals, overlaid with transparent gold, 
and burnished by the cloudless sun. This beautiful and sur- 
prising exhibition continued undisturbed for two whole days. 
On the third morning, the warm fingers of Aurora found the 
frozen chords which upheld the glittering show. They severed 
at the touch — and from lofty spire and stately elm, came show- 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1829. 393 

ering gems and pearls, tiiat tinkled as tbey bounded on the 
crystal plain. The ice, which had confined the mighty arms of 
aged forest trees, came crashing down, breaking the^* frosted 
shrubs beneath, and sending through the woods a mingled 
sound, like falling towers, and the far dash of waters. The 
admirer of the works of nature, who, during the continuance of 
■this beautiful scene, was in the majestic woods, will never forget 
their indescribable splendor, or doubt the power and skill of 
Him, who, with such slight means as the twilight vapor and the 
midnight mist, can form an arch of fire in heaven, or create an 
exhibition of glory and grandeur on earth, so far surpassing the 
utmost beauty of the works of man. 

[On this inspiring occasion Mr. Lewis produced the poem 
which has generally been considered the most beautiful of his 
productions. It first appeared, I think, in the Token, one of 
those elegant gift volumes so fashionable at this period. And 
surely if he had never written any thing else, this would have 
been sufficient to seal him as a poet. Its insertion here seelns 
appropriate :] 

THE FROSTED TREES. 

JANUARY 10, 1829. 

Wliat strange enchantment meets my view, 

So wondrous bright and fair? 
Has heaven poin-ed nut its silver dew 

On the rejoicing air? 
Or am I borne to regions new, 

To see the glories there ? 

Last eve, when sunset filled the sky 

With wreaths of golden light, 
The trees sent up tlieir arms on high, 

All leafless to the sight, 
And sleepy mists came down to lie 

On the dark breast of night. 

But now the scene is changed, and all 

Is fancifully new; 
The trees, last eve so straight and tall, * 

Are bending on the view, 
And streams of living daylight fall 

The silvery arches through. 

The bougl)s are strung with glittering pearlo, 

As dew-drops bright and bland; 
And there they gleam in silveiy curls, 

Like gems of Samarcand ; 
Seeming in bright and dazzling whii'Is, 

The work of seraph's hand. 

Each branch is bending with the weight, . 

Which makes it nod and swei-ve. 
As if some viewless angel sate , 

Upon its graceful cui-\e, 
Causing its heart to glow elate. 

And strain each secret nerve. 



394 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1829. 

It seems as if some robe of God 

Had been spread out below ; 
As if His hand had stretched abroad, 

Where midnight breezes go : 
To make the mind of nature awed 

Witl) His most glorious show. 

In the snow storm on the Gth of February, a woman perished 
on Farrington's Hill, on the Turnpike, one mile eastward of the 
Lynn Hotel. Another great storm commenced on the 20th, 
Avhen several vessels belonging to Swampscot, were driven out 
to sea. One of them remained five days, and went on shore at 
Chatham, where the crew were much frozen. 

On the night of the 5th of March, a schooner, loaHed with 
coffee, struck on Shag Rocks, on the south side of Nahant, and 
was dashed entirely to pieces. No traces of the crew were 
found, and it is probable that they all perished. 

Great excitement was occasioned this year in Lynn, as it had 
been in many other towns and cities for some years previous, 
on the subject of Freemasonry. On the 1st of April, Mr. Jacob 
Allen, of Braintree, gave an exhibition of some of the alleged 
mysteries of that institution, at Liberty Hall, corner of Essex 
and Market streets ; and on the 6th, the inhabitants, in town 
meeting, voted, that they regarded Freemasonry " as a great 
moral evil," and its existence "as being dangerous to all free 
governments," and gave Mr. Allen the use of the Town Hall to 
continue his exhibitions. [The nature and tendency of the 
oaths taken on admission to the different masonic degrees were 
soon vehemently discussed in the community at large, and the 
principles of the institution and its value freely canvassed,, it 
being generally conceded that the veil had been rent from its 
privacy. Anti-masonry presently formed an active element in 
politics, and its influence began seriously to be felt. We had 
here an anti-masonic newspaper — the Lynn Record — and in 
other places similar journals, conducted with zeal and ability, 
sprang up. In Lynn, for several years, the anti-masonic party 
were in complete ascendancy, and managed things as they 
thought best. The battle against the institution continued to 
rage till in some states extra-judicial oaths were prohibited 
under severe penalties. Many lodges surrendered their charters, 
and then the excitement began to decline. Soon after, how- 
ever, other secret societies — the Odd Fellows' for instance — 
claiming to be free from the objectionable features of Free- 
masonry, were established. And, finally, after a disturbed sleep 
of about twenty years, the ancient institution began to arouse 
and assert itself with renewed vigor.] 

Rev.David Hatch Barlow was ordained minister of the Uni- 
tarian Society, on the 9th of December. 

The canker worms, for seven years, have been making great 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1830. 395 

ravages among the fruit trees. Many orchards have borne but 
little fruit during that time, and the leaves and blossoms have 
been so thoroughly devoured, that the trees have appeared aa 
if scorched by fire. 

In a very great thunder shower, on the 30th of July, a barn 
on Naliant, belonging to Stephen Codman, Esq., was struck by 
lightning, and Mr. William Hogan, a carpenter, was killed. 

In September, a stone beacon, twenty feet in height, wag 
erected on the outer cliff of Dread Ledge, by order of the United 
States government, at an expense of one thousand dollars. It 
was thrown down by a storm, on the 31st of October. 

The first complete Map of Lynn was made this year, from a 
particular survey, by Alonzo Lewis. [And the first numbers 
of the first edition of Mr. Lewis's history were published. 

[The manufacture of flannel was commenced at Saugus, this 
year, by Brierly and Whitehead. In a few years it grew to be a 
large and profitable business.] 

1830. 

The publication of the second newspaper, entitled the Lynn 
Record, was begun, January 23, by Alonzo Lewis. [Mr. Lewis's 
connection with this paper ceased with the sixth number. It 
then became the organ of the anti-masonic party, which soon 
attained supremacy in municipal affairs, and held it for several 
years. The Record was discontinued in 1841. 

[During January, not a single death occurred in the whole 
population of 8.000 in Lynn, Lynnfield, and Saugus.] 

One of the highest tides ever known happened on the 26th 
of March. It rose about five feet higher than common high 
tides, passing entirely over the Long Beach, and making Na- 
hant an island. It also flowed over the' southern part of Market 
street, and passing up the mill brook, swept off" a quantity of 
wood from a house in Bridge street. 

On the 12th of July, Mr. Joseph Blaney, aged 52, went out in 
a fishing boat at Swampscot, when a shark overset his boat and 
killed him. [This shark must have been extremely ferocious. 
Mr. Blaney went out into the bay in one of the large Swamps- 
cot boats, which he left, and in a small boat rowed away, alone, 
to fish. After some hours he was seen to wave his hat for 
assistance. Another boat immediately started toward him, and 
presently the fish was seen to slide off', Mr. Blaney still remain- 
ing in his boat. But the shark renewed the attack, carrying 
down the boat, before the other could arrive. It came to the 
surface bottom up, and the unfortunate man was no more seen.] 

The meeting-house of the Third Methodist Society, built this 
year, in South street, was dedicated on the 3d of August. The 
first minister was Rev. Rufus Spaulding. 



396 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1831. 

A great tempest of rain and wind, on the 26th of August, 
occasioned very great damage to the corn and fruit trees. 

Donald MacDonald, a native of Inverness, in Scotland, died 
in the Lynn almshouse, on the 4th of October, aged 108 j^ears. 
He was in the battle of Quebec, when Wolfe fell, and was one 
of the few whom Washington conducted from the forest of 
blood when Braddock was killed by the Indians. 

Vegetation this year was abundant; English hay was eight 
dollars a ton ; and more apples were .gathered than in all the 
seven previous years. 

Another great storm tide, on the 29th of November, came in 
high and furious, doing great damage to the Long Beach, by 
sweeping down the ridge and throwing it into the harbor. 

On Wednesday, December 1st, there were two shocks of an 
earthquake, about eight o'clock in the evening. 

On the morning of the 4th, half an hour after midniglit, a 
meteor, exceedingly brilliant, passed south of the moon, which 
was then shining near the meridian. 

The northern lights made an uncommonly rich display on the 
evening of the 11th, assuming the most fanciful forms, changing 
into the appearance of tall spires, towere, arches, and warriors 
armed with long spears. 

1831. 

Dr. Aaron Lummus died on the 5th of January, aged 74. He 
resided in Lynn nearly fifty years, and was one of the most 
popular physicians in the town. He married Eunice CofSn, in 
1786. In 1823 and 1824, he was a senator of Essex county. 
[Dr. Lummus had seven sons and three daughters, viz: Clarissa, 
Hannah, John, Aaron, Edwai'd A., George, Elizabetli C, Samuel, 
Charles F., and Thomas *J. 

[The Essex Democrat, the third L3mn newspnper, was com- 
menced this 3^ear, by Benjamin Mudge. It was published a 
year or two, and then the materials were moved to Salem and 
used on the Commercial Advertiser.] 

A great storm commenced on the 15th of January, in which 
a schooner, belonging to Stephen Smith, was torn from her 
fastenings at his wharf, and dashed to pieces against the em- 
bankment on Deer Island, throwing down about sixty feet of 
the new granite wall, recently built by the United States gov- 
ernment. 

In August, the sun and the atmosphere, for many days, pre- 
sented a smoky appearance, of a greenish blue color. The same 
phenomenon was noticed by M. Arago, the French astronomer, 
at Paris. [It was also observed in other parts of Europe. It 
was not damp, like fog, and was entirely wanting in some of tho 
properties of smoke. In some places it was at times so lumin- 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1832. 397 

ous that people were able to read by it, at midnight. I remem- 
ber it very well, and how much it was remarked and speculated 
upon here at Lynn. Some time after it had disappeared, an em- 
inent astronomer of Europe thought he had discovered sufficient 
evidence to determine that the earth was then enveloped in the 
tail of a comet. And such an occurrence has now ceased to be 
alarming, as it is well ascertained to have taken place at other 
times. The tail of the great comet which appeared in our 
heavens with such startling suddenness, in 1861, is known to 
have been in actual contact with the earth, three days before 
it became visible. See under date 1861.] 

On the evening of the 26th of August, the moon rose about 
fifteen minutes before nine ; and half an hour after, there was a 
shower in the northwest, and on the cloud a perfect and beau- 
tiful lunar rainbow was depicted, of a yellowish color. 

This year the small-pox made its appearance in Chesnut 
street, Woodend. The infected were promptly removed, and 
the disease soon disappeared. One death occurred. 

Another beacon was erected on Dread Ledge, at Swampscot — 
an obelisk of granite, twenty-five feet in height, and three feet 
square at the base. 

On the 22d of November there was a singularly mingled 
tempest, very violent, for an hour in the morning, with rain, 
hail, snow, thunder and lightning, a strong east wind, and a 
high tide. The lightning struck at Breed's End, and a vessel 
went ashore on Pliillips's Beach, and another on Nahant Beach. 

Dr. James Gardner died 26 December, aged 69 years. He 
was born at Woburn, in 1762, entered the army of the Revolu- 
tion at an early age, and on the return of peace devoted himself 
to stud}', and graduated at Harvard, in 1788. He came to Lynn 
in 1792, and commenced the practice of medicine. The next 
year he married Susanna, daughter of Dr. John Flagg. He 
was a skillful and popular physician, and possessed the manners 
of a gentleman. [His residence was on the south side of Bos- 
ton street, near Bridge ; and he was the father of a very respect- 
able family.] 

This year Mr. John Alley enclosed about twenty acres of 
water, by a dam from his wharf to the marsh, [near the foot of 
Pleasant street,] thus making a pond, on which lie built a grist 
mill, and afterward a fulling mill. 

On the last of December, the thermometer was eleven degrees 
below zero. 

1832. 

[Col. James Robinson died on Saturday, 21 January, aged 
75. He was the first postmaster of Lynn — appointed in 1795 — 
and for many years a most useful citizen. For a long time he 
H2 



398 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1832. 

resided in the ancient mansion, still standing on the northeast 
corner of Boston and Federal streets. And in a little shop near 
by, the post-office was kept. He was father of a large and 
res-pectable family. After marrying his second wife, he removed 
to Boston and there lived for a number of years. The latter 
part of his life was passed in reduced circumstances, and mental 
obscurity. He was a soldier of the Revolution, and in his last 
years received comforts from a small pension. His first wife 
was a daughter of James Newhall, known as 'Squire Jim, and 
his children by her were, James, Lydia, Abigail, John, Harriet, 
Lois, Janet, George, Charles, Horatio. 

[The Weekly Messenger, the fourth newspaper established 
in Lynn, was commenced April 14, by James R. Newhall. It 
was published on Saturdays, and was as large and well printed 
as any newspaper ever printed in Lynn, up to that period. The 
publishing business was not then profitable here; nor was it 
for many years after, if, indeed, it has ever been. It is a kind 
of business that naturally concentrates in the larger cities; and 
Lynn is too near Boston to afford any great encouragement to 
printers.] 

The Lynn Anti-Slayery society was formed on the 25th of 
April. 

Rev. Otis Rockwood was dismissed from the pastoral charge 
of the First Congregational Church, on the 12th of Ma}^ Rev. 
David Peabody was ordained pastor of the same church on the 
15th of November. 

[The Lynn Mechanics Fire and Marine Insurance Company 
was incorporated this year. Also Nahant Bank, which failed in 
1836. 

[Eight and a half inches of rain fell in May, and the summer 
■was cold.] 

The Tuscan Chapel at Nahant was erected by subscriptions 
made by gentlemen of Boston. Religious services are held in 
it during the warm and visiting season. 

[The first meeting for the preaching of Mormonism, in Lynn, 
was held in the summer of this year. And for the space of ten 
years afterward, elders of the faith continued to visit here and 
hold meetings at intervals. About a dozen converts were made. 
Several emigrated to Nauvoo, and thence, when the Latter Day 
Saints, as they styled themselves, were driven from Illinois, 
journeyed to the Salt Lake. Two or three finally returned, 
having renounced the faith ; and one of them, a female, put 
forth a book exposing the errors and evil practices of the Saints. 
Baptism by immersion was administered to a small body of con- 
verts, by an elder named Freeman Nickerson, near the foot of 
Market street, in 1841.] 

A Whaling Company was formed, and five sfoips employed, 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1832. 399 

three of which were built at Lynn. They harbored in Saugus 
river, but on the crossing of the rail-road, in 1838, they were 
removed to Boston. [None of the whale ships were built at 
Lynn. A ship yard was established in the western part of the 
town, about this time, but no vessel larger than a schooner was 
built there. 

[This year the great Nullification ferment in South Carolina 
occurred. Many entertained serious apprehension that it would 
result in a dissolution of the Union. Lideed the fiery southern 
sentiment seemed rapidly ripening into a gigantic rebellion. 
< But the energy and unswerving patriotism of General Jackson, 
j who was happily then in the presidential chair, in all human 
'probability saved the country from great disasters. The stern 
and uncompromising proclamation which he issued on what 
appeared to be the eve of a terrific political storm, created a 
profound sensation, and was enthusiastically applauded in every 
loyal quarter of the Union. The excited southerners at once 
saw the danger of precipitancy, and discreetly abstained from 
overt acts. And the danger passed away in harmless dischages 
of oratory. On the evening of the 25th of December, soon 
after the reception of the proclamation at Lynn, a meeting of 
the citizens was held in the Town Hall, composed of the adhe- 
rents of all parties — of Anti-masons, Democrats, and National 
Republicans — at which the following preamble and resolutions 
passed unanimously : 

At a time of unprecedented prosperity in agricidture, commerce and manu- 
factures, in our liap])y Union, and this Union purcliased with a jjreat treasure, 
and cemented with tlie blood and tears of oin- proojenitors, and hallowed by 
our own devout prayers, aspirations, and labors, we, the citizens of Lynn, 
learn with sorrow that our sister State, South Carolina, once so patriotic, has 
assumed false principles, and, pretending peace, made warlike preparations 
to dissolve the Union so dear to the people in most portions of the nation. 
We cannot consent to the proposition, in fact we do not believe, that any State 
of the twenty-four States now solemnly united, can withdraw her allegiance 
to the United States, whenever she may please, or dictate to the Congress of 
the United States the laws which should be enacted or repealed, any further 
than the woiglit of the representatives of such State may prevail iii the acts 
and deliberations of that body. 

But since the acts of the State of South Carolina have undertaken to decide 
the constitutionahty of the laws of Congress, and n])on the same principle all 
other laws of the United States, when such decision is wiiolly confided to, and 
intrusted in, the Supreme Judicial Court of the Union, by the United States 
constitution, to which every citizen of the twenty-four United States owes 
absolute and luiqualified allegiance, and since such principles of Nullification 
and misrule i)revail by a majority of the citizens of one State, and are openly 
approbated, and not reprobated, by some other States, we are alarmed for the 
safety of the Union, and our own, and in common, for the liberties of the 
people. 

It is with satisfaction that we have read the Proclamation of the President 
of the United States denouncing the treasonable designs and acts of the Con- 
vention and Legislature of the State of South Carolina. This Proclamation is 



400 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1833. 



replete with true sentiments upon tlie construction of the Federal Constitution, 
of the power and duty of the President, and of the Supreme Judicial Court 
of the Union ; wliich sentiments we, in common with our brethren of this State, 
have been educated, from the cradle to the j)resent time, to clierish and love ; 
and we will never abandon them. Therefore, 

Resolved, That we abhor and denounce the doctrine of South Carolina 
Nullification, and the awkward and unnatural attitude m which she has placed 
herself before the Union and the woi-ld. 

Resolved, That we approve of the sentiments and principles spread before 
the public by the President in his late able Proclamation, and beheve it to be 
the duty of all good citizens to support such sentiments and principles to the 
hazard of life and property. 

Resolved, That in all cases in which the construction of the Federal Con- 
stitution is drawn in question, the Supreme Judicial Court of the United States 
is the sole interpreter. 

Resolved, That no individual State or any individual of any State has a 
right to declare void or nullify a single act of the Congress of the United 
States ; and that the several States, and each and every citizen in them, owe 
allegiance to the United States, which cannot be dissolved excepting by a 
majority of the voices of the people of the wiiole United States, constitution- 
ally and legally expressed. And, further. 

Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions be signed 
by the chairman and secretary, and transmitted to the Pi-esident of the United 
States.] 

1833. 

On the 16th of January, Mr. David Taylor's shoe manufactory, 
corner of Ash and Elm streets was burnt, with a large amount 
of stock. 

On the 2d of February, Rev. David H. Barlow relinquished 
the care of the Unitarian Society; and Rev. Samuel D. Robbins 
was ordained pastor of the same church on the 13th of No- 
vember. 

On the 14th of February, the new Baptist meeting-house on 
the north side of the Common was dedicated. 

[The First Universalist Society was organized, 25 March, in 
the Town Hall. 

[President Jackson visited Lynn, 26 June. The old hero 
■was warmly greeted ; but the day was stormy, and his stay was 
short.] 

One of the most remarkable phenomena ever witnessed in 
New England, was a shower of meteors. It commenced soon 
after three o'clock, on the morning of Wednesday, the 13th of 
November, and continued until day. There were many thou- 
sands, which fell in all directions, like flakes of snow. Most of 
them were small, but some appeared as large as seven stars com- 
bined in one. The meteors seemed to proceed chiefly from a 
pointy about fifteen degrees southeast of the zenith, and the 
display was noticed in Philadelphia and Baltimore. 

[Friction matches came into use about this time. And they 
soon supplanted the old tinder-box, with its flint and steel. 

[Anthracite coal, also began to be used here, in small quan- 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1834, 1835. 401 

titles. But it grew in favor slowly, and sorely tried the pa- 
tience of its friends. It required such different treatment, in 
burning, from any kind of fuel before used, that it seemed as if 
some people never could become habituated to it. 

[Metal pens, likewise, came into use at this time ; but the old 
goose quill long continued in favor with many. The writing 
paper of that time was not well adapted to the new pen, a hard- 
er and smoother surface being required; the want, however, 
was soon supplied, and then the metal pen became more gen- 
erally popular.] 

1834. 

On the 28th of May, several persons destroyed the curious 
cave in the Dungeon Rock, under the imagination that they 
might obtain a treasure. They placed a keg of powder in the 
cave, which, on its explosion, blew out the lower portion of the 
rock, causing the great mass above to fall, and thus destroying 
the cavern. This is the third time that curious and wonderful 
caves in Lynn have been destroyed by wantonness. It is much 
to be regretted that this rage for destructiveuess cannot cease. 
Such persons ought to be confined as destroyers of God's beau- 
tiful works. 

On the 31st of Jul^, Mr. Durant, aeronaut, ascended in a bal- 
loon, from Boston, passed over Nahant, and descended into the 
water, from which, in about fifteen minutes, he was taken up by 
a schooner. 

On the 12th of August, Mr. John Mudge's barn, in Shepard 
street, was burnt by lightning. 

[The anti-masonic sentiment, growing out of the alleged rev- 
elations regarding the evil tendency of freemasonry prevailed 
so extensively that in December the meetings of Mount Carmel 
Lodge were discontinued. But they were resumed in 1845.] 

18 3 5. 

On the 22d of April, Rev. David Peabody resigned the pas- 
toral charge of the First Congregational Church. 

[In the early part of the summer of this year, George Thomp- 
son, a prominent English abolitionist, visited Lynn and lectured 
in several of the meeting-houses, to large audiences, on the 
subject of slavery. In the latter part of the summer he again 
came to Lynn, to attend a meeting of the Essex County Anti- 
Slavery Society, held in the First Methodist meeting-house. 
Some opposition was now manifested by the opponents of the 
anti-slavery movement. In the evening, while Mr. Thompson 
was lecturing, a great crowd collected about the meeting-house, 
and a stone was hurled through one of the windows, causing 
great disturbance within. A large number pressed into the 
H2* 26 



402 AiSNALS OP LYNN — 1836. 

entry and attempted to burst in the inner door?, which had 
been closed. During the tumult Mr. Thompson ended his dis- 
course, and passed out, unobserved by the crowd. He was 
presently surrounded by a guard of ladies, and conducted to a 
neighboring house, whence he departed, privately, to his tempo- 
rary residence, at Swampscot.] 

A comet appeared, in the constellation of Ursa Major, on the 
9th of October, and continued in view about two weeks. 

On the 4th of November, Hezekiah Chase's mill, at the mouth 
of Strawberry brook, was burnt. 

The Christian Church, in Silsbe street, was organized on the 
5th of November. The first minister was Rev. Philemon R. 
Russell, who preached there about five years. 

On Tuesday evening, November 17, the northern lights were 
very lustrous, and presented the singular appearance of a splen- 
did illuminated crown in the zenith. 

On the 10th of December, the First Universalist Meeting- 
house, in Union street, was dedicated. 

The 16th of December was the coldest day of the season, the 
thermometer being fourteen degrees below zero. 

On the evening of the 17th of December, Mr. Rufus NewhalPs 
barn, in Essex street, was burnt. 

On the 28th of December, Lieutenant Robert R. Mudge, of 
Lynn, aged 26 j^ears, was killed by the Seminole Indisins, near 
Withlacoochie, in Florida, three persons only escaping in a com- 
pany of a hundred and eight. 

[There were one hundred families reckoned as belonging to 
the Society of Friends, in Lynn, this year.] 

1836. 

This year a second attempt was made to form an Episcopal 
Church in Lynn. It was commenced on the 7th of January, by 
three persons, under the name of Christ Church. On the 5th 
of November, a handsome rustic edifice, with diamond windows, 
and four Tuscan columns, was erected on the north side of the 
Common. [And this was the first Episcopal Church built in 
Lynn.] Rev. Milton Ward was the first minister. 

The Second Universalist Society was organized on the 9th 
of March. Their first minister was Rev. Dunbar B. Harris. 

[The act establishing the fire department of Lynn was passed 
March 23, and accepted by the town April 18.] 

The winter was very long and cold ; snow began on the 23d 
of November, and sleighing continued until the 15th of March — 
sixteen weeks. [There was a frost in every month, and remark- 
able spots appeared on the sun.] 

Rev. Parsons Cooke was installed pastor of the First Con- 
gregational Church on the 4th of May. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1837. 403 

[The first post-office in Lynnfield was established 25 May, 
in the south villag-e.] 

Tiiis year Henry A. Breed, Esq., built a large brick factory on 
Water Hill, for calico printing and dyeing. He dug a new pond, 
comprising about an acre, for a reservoir. He also laid out sev- 
eral new streets, and built nearly four hundred convenient cot- 
tages, and other buildings, and a wharf 

[The Trinitarian Congregational Society, at Saugus centre, 
built their stone meeting-house, at a cost of $2,800.] 

Dr. Richard Hazeltine died on the 10th of July. He was 
born at Concord, N. H., November 28th 1773, married Phebe 
Carter in 1799, and came to Lynn in 1817. [He owned the 
beautiful estate on the south side of Essex street, between High 
and Pearl streets, and there resided. He was a man of sterling 
integrity, dignified manners, and commanding person. He act- 
ed to some extent as a civil magistrate, and took much interest 
in the common schools.] 

On the 23d of September, a young man jumped off the preci- 
pice of High Rock, a descent of sixty feet, and, strange to tell, 
walked away uninjured. 

A fire in Broad street, near Exchange, on the evening of the 
18th of October, burnt the stable of Boynton Viall and the shoe 
manufactory of Isaac B. Cobb. 

The brig Shamrock, Jortin, of Boston, with a cargo of sugar 
and molasses, was wrecked on Long Beach, on the 17th of De- 
cember. 

[At this time there were but seventeen buildings of brick in 
all Lynn, and only six, of any material, above two stories in 
height. There were sixty streets, and the dwellings, through- 
out the town were valued at an average of $500.] 

1837. 

On the 15th of January, at two o'clock in the morning, there 
was an earthquake. 

The new meeting-house of the First Congregational Society, 
on South Common street, corner of Vine, was dedicated on the 
1st of February. 

On the 20th of June, the schooner Triton of Waldoborough, 
loaded with wood," was wrecked on Fishing Point, Swampscot. 

[The barn of Hubbard Emerson, Lynnfield, was struck by 
lightning, 20 June, and an ox killed.] 

On the 2lst of June, Lewis A. Lauriat ascended in a balloon 
from Chelsea, and lauded in the woods near Lynn Dye House. 

Augustus, son of Israel Perkins, aged 14, was drowned on 
the 1st of July, while bathing in Alley's mill pond, near the 
wharf 

Independence was celebrated near Lover's Leap, by a party 



404 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1838. 

of ladies and gentlemen of Lynn, Boston and Salem, and several 
songs written by the Lynn Bard, were sung. [The " Lynn 
Bard " was Mr. Lewis. He adopted the name soon after he be- 
gan to publish poetry.] 

The Episcopal Church, on North Common street, was conse- 
crated on Thursday, 20 July. Sermon by Bishop Griswold. 

[The subject of the manufacture of silk excited much attention 
in Lynn and many other places at this time. Great numbers of 
white mulberry trees were planted to furnish food for the 
worms, and high expectations were entertained. Considerable 
success attended the experiments; but the matter died asvay 
without important results. A gentleman who took quite an 
interest in the business, showed me, within a few months, some 
handkerchiefs, which were woven from silk produced by worms 
raised by him, and fed on leaves of trees which he planted. 
They were of beautiful texture, and handsomely printed at the 
silk printing works then in operation here.] 

In August, a survey of Lynn Beach and Harbor was made by 
Alonzo Lewis, under the direction of Congress; and a plan 
submitted for the purpose of erecting a sea wall, the whole 
length of the Beach, at an expense of $37,000; but though en- 
couragement was given for a grant, yet none was obtained. 

[This year the surplus United States revenue was distributed. 
The amount received by Lynn was $14,879.00; and it was, by 
vote of the town, applied to the payment of the town debt. 
Lynnfield received $1,328.29, and in like manner applied it to 
their town debt. Saugus received $3,500.00, and appropriated 
it to the building of a town hall. Where shall we look for a 
parallel case in the history of any nation ? But, judging from the 
present and prospective accumulation of our national debt, cen- 
turies will roll away before the United States will be in a condi- 
tion to repeat the example. 

[There was a frost every month this year, as well as the 
preceding.] 

1838. 

[The thermometer fell to 18 degrees below zero on the 30th 
of January.] 
! The ladies of Lynn held a fair at the Town Hall, on the 4th 
of July, for benevolent purposes. Francis Maria, [wife of Mr. 
Lewis] was principal, and nearly $500 were obtained. 

The Eastern Eail-road, passing through Lynn, was opened for 
public travel, from Boston to Salem, on the 28th of August. 
Before this time, a few stages had accommodated all the eastern 
travel; but now the number of passengers, to and from Boston, 
so rapidly increased, that for the first three months, the average 
was three hundred and forty-eight persons each day. The com- 






ANNALS OF LYNN — 1839. 405 

pany for effecting this great and convenient enterprise was in- 
corporated on the 14tb of April, 1836. [After tiie road was 
opened, as above, it was rapidly extended eastward to Port- 
land.] It was a magnificent project, happily accomplished, and 
it may be regarded not merely as a civil convenience, but as a 
work of great moral influence, tending to break down the barri- 
ers of sectional prejudice, and to promote feelings of benevo- 
lence and refinement, by bringing many persons of both sexes 
into habits of social and daily intercourse. [In relation to what 
Mr, Lewis says above regarding the travel by stage, before the 
rail-road was opened, it may i)e stated that in 183G, twenty-three 
stages left Lynn Hotel for Boston, daily, and there were like- 
wise numerous extras. They belonged to the great eastern and 
the Salem lines. Oftentimes they were well filled on their arri- 
val at L3'nn, and the cry "stage full," fell upon the ear of the 
hurrying man of business in a way any thing but pleasant. A 
great many, however, drove to Boston in their own vehicles. 
And there were numerous fast horses about town.] 

On the 28th of September, two brakemen a Mr. Tyler and a 
Mr. Baker, who were standing upon the top of a car, were 
instantly killed, by being struck against the overhead framework 
of the little bridge near the West Lynn depot, 

[Edward Franker this year bought the water privilege and 
other property of the New England Wool Company, at Saugus, 
and commenced the manufacture of flannel. In 1846 he in- 
creased the power by raising the dam two feet, and greatly 
enlarged his business, which proved lucrative and added much 
to the prosperity of the place. In 1860, he built a fine lai-go 
mill to be run by steam power. His mills, together with that 
of Mr. Scott, are picturesquely situated in the vicinity of the 
site of the old Iron Works, a location well adapted to manu- 
facturing purposes.] 

The Lynn Freeman newspaper was commenced on the 10th of 
November — David Taylor and Charles Coolidge, proprietors. 

1839. 

On the 27th day of May, died, Francis Maria, wife of Alonzo 
Lewis — a woman amiable, talented, virtuous and greatly be- 
loved. Her funeral was attended by perhaps as great a number 
of persons as were ever present at the interment of any lady in 
'Lynn, to whom her active benevolence, and her worth as a 
teacher, had greatly endeared her. 

Amid the attention which is given to the various concerns of 
humanity, surely one page may be spared as a tribute to the 
excellence of Woman. In the course of history, the virtues and 
the worth of Man are delineated in all the features of strong and 
admirable portraiture ; but Woman — the inspiration of exist- 



406 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1839. 

ence, the soul of humanity, without whom the world would be 
but a resplendent desert, and life itself a burden to its lordly 
and lonely possessor — Woman is overlooked with indifference, 
as if she were not entitled even to a small share in the record 
of human events. When a man is consigned to the tomb of his 
fathers, his worth is recorded on monuments of marble, and his 
virtues illuminate the page of history; but the grave of woman 
is passed in silence and neglect. She who is the mother of man, 
the wife of his bosom, the daughter of his affection — she who 
has shared all his dangers and encouraged his footsteps up the 
steep ascent of fame — she who in the hour of sickness has 
been his comforter, in the day of adversity his support, and in 
the time of trial his guardian angel — generous, virtuous, unas- 
suming woman — is permitted to go to her everlasting sleep, 
with no mention of her name, no record of her virtues. Poetry 
indeed has extolled her, but even poetry has praised her but 
half It has represented her chiefly as a thing of beauty, an 
object of youthful admiration, a creature of light and fancy, full 
of fascination and the blandishments of love. Poetry and ro- 
mance follow her in the sunny days of youth and beauty; but 
when the time of her maturity and usefulness arrives, they 
abandon her for other pursuits, and leave her alone to encounter 
the trials, and sickness, and sorrows of home. It is there, in the 
unobserved paths of domestic life, that the value of woman is to 
be estimated. There may be found unwavering faith, untiring 
afifeciion, hope that endures all afflictions, and love that bears all 
trials. There may be found the smile of unfliiling friendship, 
mantling over a breaking heart — the unobtrusive tear of sym- 
pathy, falling in the silence of solitude. There may be found a 
being, like a spirit from another world, watching through the 
long dark hours of night, over the form of manhood, prostrate 
and wasting by slow consuming sickness, and performing all the 
numerous duties, and encountering all the innumerable trials of 
common life, with the enduring patience of years, and with no 
reward but the satisfaction of, her own secret heart. Man per- 
forms the public toils of life, and participates the honors of the 
world and the recompense of fame ; but woman, who lias formed 
man for his high destiny, and whose virtues and amiable quali- 
ties constitute the refinement of society, has no share in such 
rewards. But history cannot do justice to her merits; she 
must be satisfied with the living admiration of her excellence 
on earth, and the everlasting remuneration of her virtues in 
hea\en. 

[Louisa Jane a young daughter of Samuel Stearns, keeper of 
the rail-road depot on Central Square, in August, 1837, drank 
some potash, in a tumbler of water, which had been prepared 
for cleaning purposes. It destroyed the inner coating of her 



ANNAL9 OF LYNN — 1840. 407 

stomach, and she did not eat for twenty-two days. On the 30th 
of March, this year, she died, having again abstained from food 
for twenty-one days.] 

On the 7th of June, Rev. Samuel D. Robbins resigned the 
care of the Unitarian Society. 

One of the greatest storms for many years commenced on 
Sunday, December 15th, and continued three days. It consisted 
of snow and rain, and the wind blew a gale, which did great 
damage to the shipping in many places. The schooner Catha- 
rine, from Philadelphia, for Boston, was wrecked on the rocks 
near Bass Point, at Nahant. Two of the crew were instantly 
drowned, and another was so injured, b}' being dashed upon 
the rocks, that he soon died. Capt. Nichols and one man were 
saved. At Gloucester, twenty vessels were wrecked, and sev- 
enteen dead bodies were picked up on the beach. 

1840. 

On the 1st of January, Rev. William Gray Swett was ordained 
minister of the Unitarian Society. 

[The house of widow Betsey Newhall, in the south part of 
Lynnfield, was burned, on the 4th of Januar}'. 

[On tlie 16th of January the thermometer was 18 degrees 
below zero.] 

On the evening of Snnda}', October 25th, a scene of terrific 
grandeur was exhibited. A tempest suddenly rose, in which 
the thunder was exceedingly heavy, so as to shake the houses 
like an earthquake; and the lightning was intense, making the 
whole atmosphere, at times, appear as if it were a flame ; and 
in the house it seemed as if one were enveloped with fire. At 
the same time snow fell and covered the ground. The exhibi- 
tion was singular and awfully sul)lime. 

On the 11th of November, during a storm, the tide rose higher 
than it probably had done since 1815. The wind had been east- 
erl}' for several weeks, and tlie swell of the waters was immense, 
passing for several days entirely over the Long Beach, so that 
not only the harbor, but the marshes of Lynn, Saugus and Chel- 
sea, were a portion of the miglity sea. There was no safety in 
approaching the level shore; but it was a gfand and terrible 
sight, to stand upon Sagamore hill, or some other elevation, and 
view the fearful devastations of the waters. Nahant appeared 
to be severed forever from the main, and ocean to be passing the 
bounds of its ancient decree. 

[The Puritan, a religious and secular newspaper was com- 
menced this year, at Lynn. Rev, Parsons Cooke was editor of 
the religious department, and James R. Newhall of the secular. 
The paper was afterward removed to Boston, and being united 
with the Recorder was called the Puritan Recorder. Sub- 



408 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1841. 

seqnently the name Puritan was dropped and the publication 
continued under the name Recorder. Mr, Cooke's connection 
with it continued till 1862.] 

One fact appears evident from recent observation — either 
the sea is encroaching upon our shores by elevation, or the 
marshes are sinking. There are strong indications, by marks 
upon the rocks, that the ocean once broke against the cliffs of 
Saugus ; and on examination of the marshes, we are led to the 
almost irresirftible conclusion that the whole region now occu- 
pied by them was once a portion of the sea. By some means, 
not easily explained, these marshes were formed, and covered, 
or filled, with trees. The trunks and stumps of those trees, in 
some places bearing marks of the axe ! are now buried two or 
three feet below the surface of the marsh ! and twice that depth 
beneath the level of high tides ! — ;SO that the sea, after having 
been shut out by some great revolution, appears to be returning 
to claim what were perhaps its ancient limits. Another proof 
that the waters are gaining upon the land is the fact that the 
creeks are much wider now than they formerly were; and the 
trunk of a pine, which a few years since projected three feet 
into the river, now projects twenty feet. 

1841. 

The Lyceum Hall, in Market street, was built this year. 

Phrenology and Mesmerism received much attention at this 
period. Many lectures were given by European and American 
professors, and many interesting experiments performed to the 
satisfaction of numbers; but some remained incredulous. 

This year Joseph G. Joy, Esq. built his log cabin, at Nahant, 
from a plan by Alonzo Lewis. [A sort of log cabin mania pre- 
vailed to some extent throughout the countr}'. The political 
campaign which resulted in the election of General Harrison to 
the presidency, was called the log cabin and hard cider cam- 
paign, in allusion to the alleged fact that the General, during his 
western life, lived in a log cabin and refreshed himself, while 
toiling as a husbandman, by the free use of hard cider. It was 
thought by sagacious politicians that the picture of simplicity 
thus brought before the people, with the adjunct of hard cider 
songs, had great influence in the election. Many individuals, 
before and after tlie election, erected unique structures, for 
temporary residences and other purposes, bearing some resem- 
blance to the log cabins of the frontier. 

[Some disturbance was created in Lynn and other places, 
about this time, by the Comeouters, as they were called. They 
arrayed themselves against the religious organizations, and in a 
number of intances disturbed public worship by entering the 
meeting-houses and denouncing the proceedings. The First 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1842. 409 

Congregational and the First Baptist churches had the benefit 
of their visits; but members of the congregations, without appre- 
ciating the interruptions, quietly carried out the disturbers. 
They had little respect for Sunday, or the settled institutions of 
religion. In some cases their conduct became so outrageous 
that they were arrested and punished as breakers of the peace. 
They professed great regard for morality, but seemed to think 
it better when separated from religion. In a few years, how- 
ever, the new light exhausted itself in extravagance of doctrine 
and indecorum of practice. 

[On the 17th of April a party of public spirited young men 
assembled and set trees around the Common, in Lynnfield. 

[The first Daguerreotype picture ever taken in Lynn was 
executed this year by James R. Newhall. It was a landscape, 
and the instrument by which it was taken was a cumbrous 
affair, imported from France. The beautiful art had been dis- 
covered but a few months before, and was just beginning to be 
applied to the taking of likenesses of persons. No more sensi- 
tive coating for the plate had then been discovered than the sim- 
ple exhalation of iodine ; and the plate was of copper with a 
face of silver; it not having been discovered that a picture 
could be taken on any thing but a surface of silver. Three 
minutes were the shortest time thouf>:ht of for a sittins:, even in 
clear sunshme ; and eight or ten minutes were not unfrequently 
required. And after the trial of sitting, the miniatures were 
dim and unsatisfactory, requiring to be held in a particular light 
.to have any effect, or even, in most cases, to be discernible. 
American ingenuity, however, soon greatly improved the art. 
And at the famous world's exhibition, in London, in 1852, the 
pictures from the United States took precedence of all others. 
In about twenty years after the first operations under the 
process, the elegant miniatures known as photographs were 
produced. And presently the photograph album appeared on 
the centre-table of the mansion and shelf of the cot, often dearer 
than the Bible itself] 

1842 

[Robert W. Trevett died, 13 Januarj^, aged 53. He was a 
graduate of Harvard College, and for many years in respectable 
practice as a lawyer, at Lynn, having come in 1813. He was 
a conspicuous man in our community, and something of a poli- 
tician, though he never occupied a very high official position. 
With general literature of the better sort, he was more than 
ordinarily familiar, and few stood before him in knowledge of the 
history of American commerce and manufactures. In person 
he was of something more than medium size, and in tempera- 
ment exceedingly nervous, so much so, that in his latter years 
^2 



410 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1843. 

his whole sj'stera, mental and physical, was iinfavorabl}' affected. 
The closing years of his life he passed in obscurity and indi- 
gence, shunned by most of those who in his prosperous days 
had received benefits at his hand. His wife was a lady eminent 
for her virtues. They had four children; Sarah, Robert W., 
Susan W., and Warren G. 

[The Essex County Washingtonian, a large and well printed 
paper, designed to advocate the cause of temperance, was 
commenced on the 16th of March — Christopher Robinson pro- 
prietor.] 

Tlie Lynn Natural History Society was formed on the 3d of 
August. It was quite successful in the collection of interest- 
ing natural curiosities, and continued in operation a number of 
years. 

[The house of Warren Newhall, at Lynnfield Centre, was 
destroyed by fire, on the 23d of September.] 

Another great storm happened on Friday, the 3d of Decem- 
ber, during which a singular phenomenon occurred. It was 
high tide about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and the tide rose 
nearly three feet higher than common spring tides. Soon after 
eleven, when the water had ebbed more than a foot, the wind 
changed, and brought the tide in again above two feet; so that 
vessels and timbers, landed by the first tide, were set afloat by 
the second. This is the only instance on record of a double 
tide, since the remarkable one in 1635. 

18 4 3. 

Dr. Charles 0. Barker died on the 8th of January. He was 
born at Andover, March 8, 1802, graduated at Cambridge in 
1822, and married Augusta, daughter of Rembrandt Peale, in 
1828. His practice was extensive and successful, and he was 
beloved by all who formed his acquaintance. 

Rev. William Gray Swett, pastor of the Unitarian Society, 
died on the 15th of February. He was born in Salem, July 15, 
1808, and graduated at Cambridge in 1828. He went to Cuba 
in 1830, for the benefit of his health, where he spent upwards 
of two years. In July, 1836, he was ordained at Lexington ; 
and on the first of January, 1840, was installed at Lynn. He 
was a practical preacher, and was greatly beloved by his people. 
His death was a great loss to his society and to the town ; for 
he was a man of talent, of active benevolence, and of sterling 
worth. He united high classical attainments Avith a manly piety, 
and knew enough of human nature to mingle with all its sympa- 
thies and partake of all its innocent and social enjoyments. 

In a sudden storm of snow and rain, on the morning of March 
17, before daybreak, the schooner Thomas, Captain William 
Sprowl, of Belfast, loaded with wood, was wrecked on the 



ANNALS OP LYxXN— 1843. 411 

southern end of the Long Beach. There were seven men on 
board, five of whom were drowned, by the swamping of the 
long-boat, as they were attempting to gain the shore. 

A splendid comet made its appearance this year. It was 
observed on the 1st of February, in the day time, passed the 
sun on the 26th of that month, and was in its most favorable 
position for observation on the night of the 18th of March. Its 
train then extended from Zeta in Eridanus, to Eta in Lepus — 
thirty-eight degrees in length. It was brilliant and beautiful. 

The winter was very cold. I crossed the harbor on the 17th 
of March; and the ice was then strong enough to bear a horse. 
On the 4th of April the snow in many places was three feet 
deep, and on the 8th, a man drove an ox-sled, loaded with wood, 
across Spring Pond. On the 20th of April, the ice was still 
thick on the ponds. There were heavy frosts on the 1st and 
2d of June. 

President Tyler attended the celebration of the battle of 
Bunker Hill, on the 17th of June; and in that week, 20,600 
people passed over the Eastern Rail-road. 

Lewis A. Lauriat made an ascent, in a balloon, from Chelsea, 
on the 4th of July, and descended amid thousands of spectators, 
near the Lynn Bard's cottage, at Sagamore Hill. 

This year, Theophilus N. Breed built his factory for making 
cutlery and shoemaker's tools on Oak street. [An excellent 
water power was obtained by running a dam across the valley, 
a few rods from Oak street, on the north. A fine pond, of fifty- 
three acres, was thus formed, which, besides answering the 
useful purpose of carrying machinery, constituted a most pictur- 
esque feature of the landscape. Surrounded by woodland hills, 
excepting at the narrow outlet on the west, where, at the dam, 
the busy little colony of iron workers was located, and with 
waters as clear as an alpine lake, it never failed to attract the 
eye that could appreciate the romantic and beautiful. On the 
1.5th of April, 1851, during the memorable storm by which the 
light house on Minot's Ledge was destroyed, a serious disaster 
happened here. Some forty feet of the dam were carried away, 
and out rushed the waters, in a current ten feet in depth, with 
such impetuosity as to carry large rocks across Oak street, 
down into the meadow, where they still remain. Some of the 
buildings were considerably injured by the storm and rushing 
waters, and other damage was done. The dam was repaired, 
and Mr. Breed continued his business, which was casting and 
machine work, five or six years longer, and then the works 
were closed. In 1860 the dam was broken and the water suf- 
fered to escape. And then the acres which formed the bed 
of that beautiful pond were reduced to a noxious bog, where 
rank vegetation flourished and noisy reptiles congregated. The 



412 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1843. 

clink of the iron worker's hammer no longer rang among the 
hills, the red fires of the forges went out, and the buildings 
began to decay. In 1863, however, the dam was again repaired, 
the pond restored, and the business of preparing hair com- 
menced.] 

In August, about twenty of the Penobscot Indians came to 
Lynn, and encamped, some at High Rock, and others at Nahant. 

Rev. John Pierpont, Jr. was ordained minister of the Unita- 
rian Society, on the 11th of October. 

For about four years past, it has been noticed that the syca- 
more trees [buttonwoods] have been leafless, decayed, and dy- 
ing. It is supposed that their decay has been owing to heavy 
frosts blighting them, after they had budded early. [But their 
diseased condition was noticed in various distant parts of the 
country and in Europe. They seem now, [1864] however, in a 
great measure to have recovered ; though there are but few left 
of what was once a very fashionable tree.] 

Sagamore Hall, near the Central Square Depot, was partially 
burnt in the night of the 25th of November. Loss, about $3000. 
The town has been remarkably exempt from losses of this kind — 
this being the only great fire for ten years. 



With the year 1843 the labors of Mr. Lewis, as the historian 
of Lynn, close. He inserted a concluding chapter, bearing 
date 1844, which was probably written in the early part of that 
year. A few passages of it appeared to be superseded by other 
matter in this edition, and the remainder is given in other con- 
nections. In 1857, he made known his intention to prepare a 
new edition, but causes operated to prevent his fulfilling his 
design; and he died in the early part of 1861. I have not 
thought it right, in the preceding pages, to make any essential 
alteration in the text of Mr. Lewis, nor to introduce additions of 
my own in a way that would render him responsible. And 
hence, as elsewhere remarked, I have indicated by brackets 
what I have supplied. It would have been a little more fash- 
ionable, perhaps, to have resorted to foot notes than to have 
introduced the new matter in the way chosen. But the most 
fashionable things are not always the most convenient. And 
foot notes, though often pets with writers are dire afflictions to 
readers. In the remainder of our volume, however, the unor- 
namental bracket will of course be dispensed with, as Mr. Lewis's 
matter extends no farther than this page. J. k. n. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1844. 413 



1844. 

Early this year Laroy Sunderland gave a course of lectures on 
Pathetism, as he termed his subject, in Lyceum Hall. He claimed 
ability to explain divers mystical operations of the mind, and by 
experiments to exhibit some of its most remarkable effects on 
the body. The attendance on his lectures was very large. The 
supposed science, however, seemed but another phase of Mes- 
merism, or animal magnetism, which created a good deal of 
attention in France toward the close of century 1700, and which 
Franklin, as a member of an investigating committee, referred 
to the imagination. Yet, on a question of such depth in mental 
philosophy it might require one greater than Franklin to deter- 
mine what is imaginary and what real. During the few years 
immediately antecedent to the year 1850. scores of lecturers, 
many of them ignorant mountebanks, travelled up and down the 
country, pretending to great discoveries in mental science, and 
adopting various learned names for the dignifying of their sys- 
tems. But they all seemed to fade away in the light of 
Spiritualism, which began to prevail about that marked year, 
1850. Great numbers among the learned and refined, as well 
as among the ignorant, believed that means were now discov- 
ered by which intelligible communication could be held with 
disembodied spirits. The means — to wit, the knocking against 
a wainscot or the tipping of a table — through which the com- 
munications of the invisible ones were vouchsafed, were, to be 
sure, to common apprehension a little extraordinary ; but in 
matters which are altogether mysterious, and without the circle 
of common events, the rules of what we call common sense 
may not apply. But all such things are perhaps useful, from 
directing attention to studies which may do much to elevate 
mankind ; even as the old astrology, which in itself was puerile, 
led to some of the loftiest discoveries in astronomy. 

The Essex County Whig, a weekly newspaper was com- 
menced this year. In 1846, the name was changed to Lynn 
News. And in 1861 it was discontinued. 

The journeymen shoemakers formed a society for mutual 
benefit, early this year. They endeavored to establish better 
and more uniform prices. The old order system — the system 
under which the workman was compelled to take orders payable 
in goods, for his earnings — which often operated oppressively, 
was now very generally abandoned, and the wages were paid in 
money. No striking results, perhaps, immediately followed the 
formation of this society; yet, like all similar movements, it was 
useful in diffusing a knowledge of the real condition of things. 
and affecting pubHc sentiment. 

The thermometer stood at 100 degress, in the shade, 26 June. 
T2* 



414 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1845. 

The Whig party held a mass meeting in Lynn, 4 September. 
Eminent speakers from abroad were present, and a procession, 
numbering about 3.000, moved througli the principal streets. 

On the 6th of September, the Democratic party had a great 
clam-bake at Swampscot. A procession, numbering some two 
thousand, two hundred of whom were o-f the military, was formed 
at the Central Depot, in Lynn, and marched to the place of the 
unique entertainment. Addresses were made by eminent polit- 
ical orators. 

Tuesday, 22 October, was the day calculated by the Millerites, 
as the believers in the immediate destruction of the world were 
called, to be that on which the closing up of all earthly affairs 
would take place. But it passed off without any extraordinary 
occurrence, probably to the relief of some whose courage was 
not equal to their faith. There were quite a number in Lynn, 
who firmly believed in the predictions of Mr. Miller. They 
held meetings, and in some instances showed their sincerity by 
abandoning their business and giving away their property. And 
many still continue steadfast in the belief that the end of all 
things is close at hand. 

Mr. John Alley, 3d, had a swine, raised by himself, slaughtered 
this year, which weighed, before being dressed, 1.330 pounds. 
The fat produced 128 pounds of lard. He had the skin stuffed ; 
and it became an object of curiosity at agricultural exhibitions. 

1845. 

About midnight, on the 4th of May, a dwelling house on the 
north side of Summer street, between Market and Pleasant, 
occupied by Albourne Oliver and David M. Hildreth, was 
burned. The two families had barely time to escape with their 
lives. Not even a change of clothing was saved by any of the 
inmates. Loss $3,000. 

Mount Carmel Lodge of Freemasons, instituted in 1805, and 
discontinued in 1834, under the anti-masonic pressure, was this 
year reorganized and regular meetings resumed. 

Joseph W. Millett, of Swampscot, met his death, 28 May, 
tinder painful circumstances. Some young men were in the 
pastures in pursuit of geological specimens, and he accompanied 
them. They charged a rock with a pound of powder, and he 
volunteered to touch it off. They retired, not without appre- 
hension, as he appeared so daring, leaving him to execute the 
dangerous task. They heard the report, returned, and found 
him dead, his body being much mutilated. He left a wife and 
six children. 

The Lynn Artillery joined the escort at the funeral solemnities 
held in Boston, 9 July, on the occasion of the death of General 
JacksoD. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1846. 415 

The thermometer reached 101 degrees, in the shade, 12 July 
A young- man from Bradford, named Noyes, was drowned, 
while bathing, at Needham's Landing, 10 September. He had 
come to Lynn in the hope of benefitting his health by sea bath- 
ing, arriving only the day before. 

1846. 

Between eleven and twelve o'clock on the night of 1 January, 
afire broke out in the Rockaway House, at Swampscot, destroy- 
ing the building and furniture, bowling-alleys, stable, and other 
out buildings. Loss about $20,000. The building was formerly 
the Topsfield Hotel, and was moved from that town to Swamps- 
cot, a distance of about fifteen miles. 

For several days, in the early part of January, the air was 
80 clear that the planet Yenus could be seen at noonday, about 
three hours behind the sun. 

Amariah Childs died, 21 January, aged 80. He owned the 
mills on Saugus river, Boston street, which so long bore his 
name, and there manufactured that excellent chocolate Avhich 
became celebrated not only throughout the United States, but 
in Europe. He began the manufacture in or about the year 
1805, and sold out the business in 1840. He lived on Boston 
street, nearly opposite Bridge;'and was an esteemed citizen. 
He married three wives, the first and last of whom were sisters, 
and the intermediate one the widow of a deceased brother of 
the other two. The last named was Mrs. Larkin, mother of 
Thomas 0. Larkin, who, at one time during the excitement 
respecting the California gold discoveries, was reputed to be 
the wealthiest man in the Union, he having become proprietor 
of extensive tracts of land in tliat auriferous region. At the 
time of his death, however, which occurred a few years after, it 
appeared that though a rich man, his possessions had been 
greatly over-estimated. 

A house on Franklin street, belonging to John Alley, 3d, was 
struck by lightning, 18 May, and two persons knocked down. 

On the 21st of June, the lightning struck the house of Charles 
P. Curtis, then in process of erection, on Ocean street, doing 
considerable damage to the frame. 

On Sunday, 28 June, there appeared a remarkable solar halo. 
The outer edge was of a beautiful violet, and the inner red. 

The first Congregational meeting-house in Swampscot, was 
dedicated on the 15th of July, and the church organized. 

On the 1st of August, the anniversary of the abolishment 
of slaver}^ in the British West Indies was celebrated in the 
woods, near liover's Leap. The day was pleasant, and a large 
company of ladies and gentlemen assembled. Some prominent 
speakers from other places were present. 



416 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1846. 

Thomas Nourse killed a rattlesnake five feet long, and having 
nine rattles, on the Lynnfield road, in July. The ages of these 
reptiles may be determined by the number of their rattles. 
They have the first when three years old, and afterward one 
annually. 

On Sunday morning, 9 August, one of the most destructive 
fires that ever occurred in Lynn, took place. It commenced at 
about two o'clock, in the spice and coffee mill of Nehemiah 
Berry and Samuel C. Childs, on Water Hill. The mill and adja- 
cent frame buildings were soon destroyed and the fire commu- 
nicated to the large brick building used for silk printing and 
dyeing, then occupied by Daniel K. Chase ; and that also was 
destroyed. Total loss about $75,000. Insurance $20,000. This 
brick factory was the one referred to under date 1836. 

On Friday afternoon, 14 August, during the recess at the 
grammar school on Franklin street, the upper wall fell — plaster- 
ing, beams, flooring, and all — and precipitated into the room 
a cord and a half of wood which had been piled in the attic. It 
came down with such force that portions sank through the floor 
into the basement. Several pupils who happened to remain in 
during the recess, were injured ; none, however, fatally. The 
average attendance of scholars was about a hundred and fifty, 
and had the accident occurred whj]e the school was in session, 
many lives must have been lost. 

A smart shock of an earthquake was felt on Tuesday morning, 
25 August, at fifteen minutes before five o'clock. It was suffi- 
ciently violent to wake persons from sleep, and in some instances 
dishes were thrown from shelves. There was for a moment a 
dull, rumbling sound, like that produced by a train of cars pass- 
ing over a bridge. 

The old Lynn Light Infantry, organized in 1812, was disbanded 
this year. For many years it was a famous company. 

The Agricultural Society of Essex County, held their annual 
cattle show and exhibition in L3nm, 1 October. The weather 
was pleasant ancl a very large number were present from abroad. 
The address was delivered by Moses Newell, of West Newbury, 
and the dinner was had in the basement of the First Congrega- 
tional meeting-house. A levee and dance took place in the 
evening. . 

The summer and autumn were unusually warm and dry ; 
more so, it was stated, than at any previous time for a quarter of 
a century. There was a great failure of water in the wells about 
town; some dried up that never had before. November and 
December were very cold. At Thanksgiving time there was 
a great easterly storm that did much damage. 

A singular disease began to affect the potato crop, this year; 
and it has continued to exhibit itself with more or less virulence 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1847. 417 

every season since, in some instances destroying 'wnole crops ; 
the potatoes being sometimes attacked while in the ground, and 
at other times after being digged. Four periods liave been 
marked by the prevalence of the " potato rot," in this vicinity; 
the first in 1770. The remedy in former times seems to have 
been in the use of the seed, instead of the bulb, for propagation. 

The congress boot began to be manufactured at this time. 
Its peculiarity consisted mainly in the substitution of an elastic 
gore for the old lacing, thus rendering the boot easier about 
the ankle, and more tasty in appearance. 

The Mexican war commenced this year. Lynn furnished 
twenty volunteers, viz : Mark Annis, Henry Chester, Benjamin 
Coates, C. W. Foster, Nathan Green, Lucius Grover, Joseph 
Hepburn, Amos Kimball, Stephen Morton, Henry Newhall, 
William B. Patten, Hezekiah Shaw, Walter Sherman, Edward 
F. Skinner, John Spinney, William Swasey, Joseph Wendell, 
Joseph York, and two others of the name of Brown. 

1847. 

On the 15th of April, there were two inches of frost in the 
ground. And on the 22d of the same mouth the weather was 
so warm that the thermometer rose to eighty-six degrees in the 
shade. But the next day it snowed. 

President Polk made a short visit to Lynn on Monday after- 
noon, 5 July. He came from the east in a special train, left his 
car at the Central Depot and rode through the town in a car- 
riage, taking his car again at the depot at the foot of Commer- 
cial street. There was great eagerness to greet him, but his 
stay was so short that few could be gratified. 

The Hutchinson cottage at High Rock was built this year. 
Also Exchange Building, on Market street. 

The Agricultural Society of Essex county, again held their 
annual cattle show and exhibition at Lynn, 29 September. The 
address was delivered by Thomas E. Pay son of Rowley. The 
dinner and other festivities usual on the occasion passed off in 
a manner most satisfactory. 

Samuel Mulliken died 25 November, aged 86. He was long 
identified with the prosperity of Lynn, and was the third post- 
master, serving from 1803 to 1807. Before coming to Lynn 
he for a short time pursued the business of a watchmaker, at 
Salem. In Lynn, he did a large business, for many years, as a 
tanner, and at one time kept a large store at the southern end 
of Market street. He was a man of strict integrity and great 
industry. He had a strong will, which, being usually set in the 
right direction stood him in good stead. But he once related 
to me an instance of its operation which seems more amusing 
than beneficial. During the active portion of his life, it was a 

27 



418 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1848. 

custom, as public conveyances were few, for a couple of busi- 
ness men to visit Boston in company, one provMing the horse 
and vehicle and the other paying the tolls and horse keeping. 
One cliilly November day, he and Jeremiah Bulfinch, a neighbor, 
agreed to visit Boston in that partnership way. Mr. B. was to 
furnish the conveyance and Mr. M. to pay the expenses. When 
they arrived at Charlestown, which was early in the forenoon, 
they found that an additional toll, or some other charge, to the 
amount of six cents, on which neither had calculated, had been 
levied. Mr. Mulliken contended that the extra charge should 
be equally shared; but Mr. Bulfinch declared that none of it 
rightfully fell on him. They were equally matched for stub- 
bornness, and there they sat, disputing and arguing, till the 
declining sun warned them that it was time for the horse's head 
to be turned homeward. And home they rode, each, undoubt- 
edly, congratulating himself on his manly triumph. "And," 
added Mr. Mulliken, as he related the incident, his counte- 
nance radiating from the old fire within, though he was then 
more than eighty years of age, " I would have sat there till 
this time, before I would have paid it ! " Mr. Mulliken had two 
wives ; his first was a daughter of Col. Ezra Newhall, of the 
Revolution ; and his children were, Jonathan, William, John, 
Charles, Susan, George. 

The old Lynn Rifle Company was disbanded this year. It 
had been in existence about twenty-five years, and ranked high 
for discipline. 

The custom of pressing sea mosses and working them into 
parlor ornaments, began about this time. The rocks by the 
sea side and those upon the woodland hills furnish an inexhaust^ 
ible amount of material for the most durable and beautiful orna- 
ments ; and by a tasty and patient hand it may be wrought into 
pictures that might easily be referred to the skill of goddesses. 
And the brilliant leaves of autumn, carefully pressed and var- 
nished may be formed into exquisite pictures. 

The first telegraphic wires that passed through Lynn were 
put up in December. There was, however, no communication 
held by them between Lynn and other places. Morse's tele- 
graph was invented in 1832, and the line between Washington 
and Baltimore completed in 1844. 

1848. 

On the night of Wednesday, 5 January, the hariiess shop of 
Edwin N. Pike, on Union street, near the Central Depot, was 
burned. Loss $1,200. 

Oliver Fuller, aged 60, while walking on the rail-road track, 
in the vicinity of the Central Depot, on Thursday, 24 February, 
was run over by a locomotive, and instantly killed. 



\ 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1848. 419 

Geoi\c:e Gray, tne Lynn hermit, died 28 February, aged 78. 
He was by birth a Scotchman and came hero near the close of 
the last century, locating in a lonely spot, which he made his 
home till the time of his death, though population largely in- 
creased around, much to his annoyance. Two or three rude 
little structures, erected chiefly by his own hand, answered for 
his dwelling, workshops, and store houses. They were on 
the south side of Boston street, a few rods east of the main en- 
trance to Pine Grove Cemetery. It was a very wild place till 
•within a few years. A high woody hill rose in the rear, a tan- 
gled swamp was on either hand, with a weedy brook winding 
through ; while in front, beyond a little area of brambles and 
rank vegetation, wound the street just named. He persistently, 
and often with a good deal of asperity, refused to communicate 
to the curious inquirers wdio sometimes beset him, any know- 
ledge of his personal history or the causes which induced the 
adoption of his comfortless and unnatural mode of life. And 
that very secrecy gave rise to innumerable romantic surmises. 
Some believed that an unfortunate affair of the heart estranged 
him from the world ; others that some great crime rendered his 
flight from his native land a necessity. And he had the shrewd- 
ness to avoid entangling himself by contradicting any current 
opinion. 

At times he was by no means averse to discussing affairs 
with his neighbors, though very seldom could one receive a 
welcome to his premises, and never would an invitation to enter 
his dwelling be extended. His calls were generally made at 
night. I was occasionally favored with one and usually found 
him so forgetful of the passing time that it was necessar}'' to 
remind him of the lateness of the hour by a delicate hint like 
that of extinguishing the lights, nothing short of some such rude- 
ness appearing to be understood. On one of these visits, when 
be seemed in gracious mood, with venturesome curiosity I 
expressed a desire to know something of his early history ; but 
the sudden and lively response — "That is what don't concern 
you ! " checked all approach for that purpose. He was a reflecting 
man, and one of considerable literary and scientific attainment; 
but the current stoiy of his carrying a Hebrew Bible about in 
his pocket was, no doubt, a fiction. He took great pleasure 
in attending lectures, and in studying works on the abstruse 
sciences. But his fondness for the mechanic arts was perhaps 
his most conspicuous trait, and he became very skillful in some 
branches connected with machinery. Strangers would some- 
times vex him with untimely visits, and b}' unpalatable remarks 
induce sudden exhibitions of temper. But if one assumed to 
possess a knowledge of mechanics, he was pretty sure of a cour- 
teous hearing. He claimed to be the inventor of a most useful 



42© ANNALS OF LYNN — 1848. 

part of the ship's steering apparatus; but some one was before 
him in securing the patent, and he was subjected to much ex- 
pense in unsuccessful eiforts to establish his claims. Rufus 
Choate was his advocate and counsellor at one time. 

In religion he was probably a materialist, most of his life. 
Perhaps a dozen years before his death he remarked to me that 
it was '' ridiculous for any one to contend that intelligence was 
not the result of ph^^sical organization." But it is understood 
that he subsequently abandoned his old views, and died in the 
Calvinistic faith. He was eccentric in his habits, and had little 
regard for personal appearance, oftentimes, especially during 
the last few years of his life, appearing in a grim and filthy con- 
dition. He was remarkable, even in old age, for power of phy- 
sical endurance. Many a time has he walked to Boston, on a 
winter evening, attended a lecture, and walked home after it 
had closed, making a distance, in all, of full twenty miles, most 
likely with no thicker covering to his head than a dilapidated 
straw hat and upon his feet coarse shoes and no stockings. 
He suffered much from disease during his few last years. And 
there, in his forlorn habitation, without the sympathy of friends 
or the common endearments of home, in solitude and distress, 
his last days were passed. 

Mr. Gray, at the time of his decease, possessed property to 
the amount of about $4,000. He died intestate, and his debts 
were not large ; a considerable portion, therefore, went into the 
treasury of the commonwealth. His savings do not appear, 
however, to have accumulated from a miserly disposition, but 
rather from habits of industry and a naturally frugal turn, for 
the administrator informed me that from the appearance of 
things he could hardly have taken sufficient interest in his pe- 
cuniary affairs to have known what he did possess. In some 
instances the evidences of his money deposits were found 
thrown among waste paper. 

The death of the hermit was noticed in the newspapers, 
throughout the country, and several persons appeared, claiming 
to be heirs ; but they failed to substantiate their claims. On 
the 16th of January, 1861, George Gray and William Gray peti- 
tioned the legislature to grant to them the proceeds of the 
hermit's estate in the treasury. The petitioners represented 
that the hermit was a natural son of William Gray, of Oxgang, 
Dunbarton county, Scotland, of whom they were legitimate 
grandchildren. They did not assume any legal right to the 
money, but in consideration of the fact that they would have 
been entitled as heirs, had the hermit been legitimate, hoped 
the legislature would favorably regard their prayer. The peti- 
tion was referred to the committee on claims, but the result 
was not favorable to the petitioners. 



ANXALS OF LYNN — 1848. 421 

During the month of May, some two hundred dwellings were 
in process of erection or enlargement in different parts of Lynn. 

On Saturday morning, 6 May, during a thunder shower,' the 
safe in the ticket office of the Central Depot was blown open 
and robbed of about forty dollars. The thief was discovered 
and suffered imprisonment. 

On Sunday, 11 June, a party of young men went down Sau- 
gus river, for recreation, partaking of ciams and other refresh- 
ments. On their way back, William Austin, one of the number, 
was suddenly taken ill, and died before a physician could be 
summoned. 

Independence was this year celebrated in Lynn by the friends 
of tenaperance. Li the evening there was a display of fireworks, 
at High Rock, and a great crowd of spectators. 

The second post-office in Lynnfield was established, 1 August, 
in the centre village. 

At about four o'clock on Sunday morning, 6 August, the 
house and barn of Samuel Parrott, on North Bend, were entirely 
destroyed by fire. Loss, about $3,500. Two cows and a calf 
perished in the flames. 

An unusually fatal epidemic prevailed in September. There 
were seven funerals in town on the 17th. And on the next 
Sunday Rev. Dr. Cooke, of the First Church, preached a sermon 
appropriate to the occasion. 

The Agricultural Society of Essex County, for the third suc- 
cessive year held their annual exhibition in Lynn. The day 
was pleasant and great numbers attended. The address was 
delivered by Gen. Josiah Newhall, of Lynnfield. Hon. Daniel 
Webster was present. The evening levee was in Exchange 
Hall. A few rockets were let off on the Common, at night, 
which so frightened some of the cattle that they broke from 
their enclosures and fled. Three young cows, brought by David 
S. Caldwell, of Byfield, were found, about midnight, at the rail- 
road depot, quietly reposing beside the same car in which they 
had been brought. 

In October, the house of Daniel Kidder, in Saugus, near the 
Newburyport Turnpike, was burned. Loss $2,000. The fire 
was occasioned by children playing with matches in the garret. 

On Friday afternoon, 29 December, the new grammar school- 
house on the westerly side of Franklin street, was dedicated. 
JThough of wood, it was at the time considered a fine building. 

The carriage road along the harbor side of Long Beach wa.s 
built this year by Dennison W. Goldthwaite, under the super- 
intendence of Alonzo Lewis. It cost $1,771.25. The town 
appropriated $1,000 and the people at Nahant, resident and 
non-resident, subscribed $1,225. A part of the town appropri- 
ation was not used. 
J2 



422 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1849. 

Lynn Common was fenced this year. The whole cost of the 
fencing fell a trifle short of $2,500. To the exertions of the 
ladies the town was in a great measure indebted for the im- 
provement. On the 28th, 29th, and 30th days of September, they 
held a great fair at Exchange Hall, and were so successful as to 
realize $1,636, including $245 previously obtained by subscrip- 
tion. Other sums were subsequently subscribed, and the town 
made an appropriation, which enabled the committee promptly 
to complete the work. Down to this time the Common had 
remained an open area. Most of it was used as a public ground 
from the earliest times, military trainings and public parades 
and exhibitions being held there. In some portions the surface 
remained quite uneven as late as 1830 ; there were hollows 
and risings, muddy places and gravelly shelves. The travel 
flowed partly along the sides, where North and South Common 
streets now are, and partly along a road which ran, with divers 
interruptions, along the centre. Just east of where the pond 
now is, stood a dwelling-house, with out-buildings and a small 
orchard. And a little farther east stood the gun-house and 
town-house. At the eastern extremity was a little district 
school-house, and at the western another. Almost exactly op- 
posite where Whiting street opens, was the fomous Old Tunnel 
meeting-house ; and so few were the buildings, for most of the 
distance, between the middle of the Common and the sea, even 
down to the time of the disappearance of that sacred edifice, 
that people in passing up and down had pleasant views of the 
water. Many a time, when a boy, on my way to and from 
meeting, have I watched the vessels. In 1827 the old meeting- 
house was removed ; and in the course of about half a dozen 
years thereafter the whole extent was freed from the architec- 
tural encumbrances. It was then ploughed up, the circular 
pond formed, the hollows filled, and North and South Com- 
mon streets graded. Since the fence was built the city has 
made a number of small appropriations for improvements; the 
gravel walks have been formed, and numerous trees planted. 
At the time the Common was fenced there were tliree hundred 
and forty-seven trees upon it, including those within the rail- 
ing and along the side-walks. 

1849. 

On Wednesday afternoon, 3 January, the new grammar school- 
house, on the east side of Centre street was dedicated. This 
and the one built at the same time, on Franklin street, and ded- 
icated 29 December, 1848, were the best ever built in Lynn, up 
to this time. They cost about $5,000, each. 

On Wednesday, 31 January, the body of a man about fifty 
years of age, who had been frozen to death, was found on Tower 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1849. 423 

Hill, near the aims-house. It was supposed that he froze the 
night before, which was intensely cold, while in a condition of 
helpless intoxication. 

A small building near High Rock, used as a shoemakers' shop, 
was burned on Sunday evening, 25 March. The building was 
an interesting relic, having been the belfry of the Old Tunnel 
meeting-house. The spaces being boarded up, it furnished a 
comfortable though not very capacious shop. 

The Lynn Police Court was established this year. It became 
a court of record, in the legal sense, 1 January, 1862. 

The Laighton Bank commenced business, 2 August. 

A national fast was appointed for the .Sd of August, on account 
of the threatened prevalence of the Asiatic cholera. The day 
was well observed at Lynn. About a dozen cases of the disease 
appeared in our alms-house, ten of which proved fatal. A few 
other cases occurred in diflferent parts of the town. But the 
excitement was not to be compared with that of 1832, when 
the disease first reached America. Lynn, at that time, partook 
largely of the general alarm, though the pestilence did not then 
visit her. 

In September, James C. Lamphier, of Swampscot, discovered 
floating off Swampscot beach, a turtle, of the enormous weight 
of six hundred pounds. Its length, from the end of the nose to 
the end of the tail, was eight feet and six inches, and its shell 
was six feet long and three and a half wide. The animal was 
dead when discovered. After being towed ashore a bullet hole 
was found in the body. 

Rev. Theobold Matthew, of Ireland, a distinguished advocate 
of temperance, visited Lynn on the afternoon of Monday, 17 
September. He held a levee at Lyceum Hall, and several hun- 
dreds, mostly his own countrymen, took the temperance pledge. 
On the 7th and 8th of October, he again visited Lynn and 
administered the pledge to others. 

A great storm occurred on the 6th and 7th of October. The 
sea was driven in with such fur>' that in several places it made 
breaches entirely over Loiig Beach. 

The Bay State, a weekly newspaper, advocating democratic 
principles, was commenced 11 October, by Lewis Josselyn. 

On the evening of 19 October a party of Ojibway Indians 
gave an entertainment at Lyceum Hall. They had traveled 
in Europe under the guidance of George Catlin, the accom- 
plished Indian delineator. 

The new grammar school-house, at Swampscot, was dedicated 
on the 20th of December, 

A large number left Lynn, this year, to seek their fortunes in 
California, the excitement respecting the gold discoveries on 
the Pacific coast having set people almost beside themselves. 



424 AKNALS OF LYNN — 1850. 

Nearly two hundred went, some by water and some by land. 
And there was as much diversity in their success as in their 
characters and habits. Some returned in poverty and with 
broken health, others with well-filled purses and good health ; 
others still remained, preferring to make new homes in that 
distant region. 

The grammar school-house at Tower Hill was built this year. 

1850. 

A curious discussion, which in some instances waxed quite 
warm, arose at the beginning of this year. It was on the ques- 
tion whether 1850 was the last year of the first half of the cen- 
tury, or the first year of the last half. 

Fifteen cases of small-pox occurred in January in one house 
on Spring street ; only one, however, proved fatal. All the 
patients were colored persons. 

At the beginning of this year there were in Lynn thirty-four 
public schools, employing nine male and thirty-four female 
teachers. The whole number of pupils was 3.379. 

A two story building on Centre street, between North Com- 
mon street and the Turnpike, occupied by Peter C. Downing, 
as a boarding-house, was destroyed by fire on Sunday night, 
March 31. 

Lynn adopted the city form of government this year. The 
legislature granted the charter on the 10th of April, and on the 
19th the inhabitants voted to accept it. The organization of 
the first city government took place on Tuesday forenoon, the 
14th of May, at Lyceum Hall. The day was pleasant, and a 
large number, some of whom were ladies, were present to wit- 
ness the ceremonies. George Hood took the oath of oflSce as 
mayor, Daniel C. Baker as president of the common council, and 
William Bassett as city clerk. In the evening the new city 
government, together with a large company of citizens, partook 
of a collation, in ihe old Town Hall. 

A great fire raged in the woods on Sunday, 21 April. Sev- 
eral hundred acres, chiefly in Dungeon Pasture, were burned 
over. 

Col. Samuel Brimblecom died 24 April, aged 81. He was 
for many years an enterprising shoe manufacturer, and did a 
great deal towards establishing the business on a firm basis. 
Before his time the whole trade was so loosely conducted that 
few realized any thing beyond a bare maintenance from unre- 
mitted toil and perplexity ; but many of his suggestions tended 
greatly to systematize the business and render it profitable. In 
common with all the manufacturers of that period he met with 
reverses in early life, though before the infirmities of age had 
settled upon him he had secured a competency. He was a man 



AJNNALS OF LYNN — 1&50. 425 

of philosopliical 'turn of mind, and estimable social qualities ; 
fond of reading, and ready to aid in all efforts to improve the 
mind. He was a member of the Unitarian Society at its forma- 
tion, and continued steadfast in tlie faith. He had seven chil- 
dren, namely, Mary, Samuel, Mary A.nn, two Williams, Lucy, and 
Ellen. His first wife was Mary Mansfield, whom he married 
4 June, 1794; and his second, Nelly Copp, whom he married 
1 June, 1817. Ellen was the only child by the second marriage. 
His residence was on the south side of the Turnpike, a few 
rods west of Franklin street. He was a native of Marblehead. 

At about midnight, on Sunday, 26 May, two buildings on 
the wharf at the foot of Commercial street, were destroyed by 
fire, with a considerable quantity of lumber and lime. On the 
morning of the same day, a store-house in the rear of Caleb 
Wiley's store, corner of the Turnpike and Federal street, was 
burned. 

Down to the last day of May, the easterly wind had been the 
prevailing one for a hundred successive days, an occurrence 
quite uncommon even here where our springs are so marked 
by easterly winds. 

The physicians of Lynn, by mutual agreement, commenced 
charging seventy-five cents for each professional visit, June 15. 
The most common fee, previous to that, had been fifty cents. 
It was a time of great prosperity, and wages in almost every 
craft and profession took an upward course. 

On the afternoon of Thursday, 20 June, during a thunder 
shower, the lightning struck the clothing store of Roland G. 
Usher, on Market street. James W. Ingalls, who was standing 
in the door way, was knocked down. The lightning passed 
between his legs, tearing ^ne of his boots, and burning his 
person somewhat. 

The " ten hour system," as it was called — that is, the reckon- 
ing of ten hours' labor as a day's work — was very generally 
adopted this year. The church bells were rung at six in the 
afternoon, and then labor, for the most part, ceased, in field 
and shop. Mayor Hood took a lively interest in the movement. 

On the night of the 18th of July, the morocco manufactory 
of James Tibbets, on Sutton street, was destroyed b}'' fire. 

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 24 July, Pine Grove Ceme- 
tery was consecrated. The weather was pleasant, though very 
warm, and a great concourse attended. The address was deliv- 
ered by Rev, Charles C. Shackford, of the Unitarian Society. 

A son of Joseph Ramsdell, of Lynnfield, aged 10, killed a 
rattlesnake, in July, which was five feet in length and had eleven 
rattles. 

In the summer of this year, the Salem and Lowell rail-road, 
running through the northerly part of Lynnfield, was opened. 
J2* 



426 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1850 

A tornado passed through the westerly part-of Lynnfield, on 
the 1st of August, at about three in the afternoon, sweeping 
every thing before it. Its track was but a few rods in width, 
and fortunately no buildings were in it. 

On Thursday, August 15, a sad disaster occurred at Humfrey's 
pond, in Lynnfield. A company, connected for the most part 
with the First Christian Society of Lynn, were holding a pic-nic 
on the border of the pond. In the course of the afternoon a 
party of twenty-five, chiefly ladies, rowed out in a large flat 
bottomed boat, about a hundred yards from the shore. As some 
of them shifted from side to side, the boat was made to careen ; 
and several becoming alarmed threw their weight in a manner 
to completely capsize it. Before aid could reach them thirteen 
were drowned. 

The Salem and South Reading rail-road, passing through 
Lynnfield, was opened for travel, 31 August. 

The dry goods store of Charles B. Holmes, on Market street, 
was broken into on the night of 5 October, and robbed to the 
amount of some $500. Several other robberies were committed 
at about the same time, in different parts of the town. 

This year the potato rot was very destructive to the crops in 
and about Lynn. 

The first burial in Pine Grove Cemetery took place on Sun- 
day, October 13. It was on Myrtle path and in lot number 212. 
The stone bears this inscription: "Harriet Newell, wife of 
George W. Stocker, died Oct. 11, 1850, aged 27 years. Faith- 
ful while below, she did her duty well. The first interment and 
the first stone erected in this Cemetery." 

The planet Venus was visible to the naked eye, on clear after- 
noons, for several days during the early part of November. 

On the evening of 28 November, George Thompson, the dis- 
tinguished abolition lecturer and member of the British parlia- 
ment, being again in the country, had a public reception by his 
friends in Lynn, and delivered an address. The meeting was 
at Lyceum Hall, which was well filled, though the weather was 
stormy. James N. BufFum presided. For notice of Mr. Thomp- 
son's earlier visits see under date 1835. 

The law passed by Congress, this year, intended to f^icilitate 
the rendition of slaves escaping into the free states, and known 
as the " Fugitive Slave Law," met with strong opposition in 
Lynn. Several largely attended meetings were held, at which it 
was warmly denounced. At Lyceum Hall, on Saturday' evening, 
5 October, a full and enthusiastic meeting convened, at which 
Mayor Hood presided, Jonathan Buff'um, Daniel C. Baker, 
Charles Merritt, and William Bassett, being vice presidents, and 
George Foster and Benjamin F. Mudge secretaries. One or 
two prominent speakers from abroad made stirring addresses, 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1850. 427 

I 

and the following resolutions were unanimously adopted. They 
are certainly characteristic of the people of Lynn, in the ani- 
mated spirit of freedom they breathe though the exceeding 
fervor of one or two seems to savor somewhat of nullification : 

Resolved, That the Fugitive Slave Bill, recently enacted by Congress, 
violates tlie plain intent and the strict letter of the United States constitution, 
which seciu-es to every citizen, except in cases of martial law, the right of trial 
by jury on all important questions; further, said bill outrages justice, since it 
does not secure to the fugitive, or to the free man mistaken for a fugitive, due 
notice beforehand of the charge made against him, and opportunity for cross- 
examining the witnesses against him on their oath, gives him no lime to get 
counsel or gather testimony in his own behalf — rights which our fathers 
secured by tiie struggle of two hundred years, and which are too dear to be 
sacrificed to the convenience of slave liunters, afraid or ashamed to linger 
amid a community whose institutions and moral sense they are outraging. 

Again, said bill tramples on the most sacred principles of the common law; 
and even if men could be property, no property, however sacred, cau claim 
the right to be protected in such a way as endangers the rights and safety of 
free men, therefore — 

Resolved, That we protest against it as grossly unconstitutional, as fraught 
witli danger to the safety of a large portion of our fellow citizens, and capable 
of being easily perverted to the ruin of any one, white or black; we denounce 
it as infamous, and we proclaim our determination that it shall not be executed. 

Resolved, That we rejoice to believe that there are not prisons enough at 
the Noith to hold the inen and women who stand ready to succor and protect 
the panting fugitive slave, and baffle and resist the slave hunter, who shall 
dare to pollute our soil. 

Resolved, That every man who voted for this atrocious bill, every one 
who avows his readiness to execute it, and every one who justifies it on any 
gi-ound, is a traitor to the rights of the free states, and a criminal of the deepest 
die; at the head of whom stands Millard Fillmore, who from party, or even 
baser motives, has set his name to a law, the provisions of which, so far 
from being fitted for a christian republic, remind one only of the court of 
Jeffries, or the camp of Hayuau. 

Resolved, That Samuel A. Eliot, of Boston, in giving his vote for this 
blood-hound bill, dishonored and betrayed Massachusetts; and low as is often 
the moral sense of a great city, cankered by wealth, we rejoice to know that 
he misrepresented his immediate constituents : and we demand of them, in 
the name of our old commonwealth, to save us from the infamy of his presence 
in another Congress. 

Resolved, That since God hath commanded us to "bewray not him that 
wandereth," and since, our fathers being witnesses, every man's right to lib- 
erty is self-evident, we see no way of avoiding the conclusion of Senator 
Seward, that "it is a violation of the divine law to surrender the fugitive slave 
who takes refuge at our firesides from his relentless pursuers;" and in view 
of this, as well as of the notorious fact tiiat the slave power has constantly 
trampled under foot the Constitution of the United States to secure its own 
extension or safety, and especially of the open, undisguised, and acknowledged 
contempt of that instrument, with which the slave states kidnap our colored 
citizens traveling south, and imprison our colored seamen, we, in obedience to 
God's law, and in self-defense, declare that, constitution or no constitution, 
law or no law, with jury trial or without, the slave who has once breathed the 
air and touched the soil of Massachusetts, shall never be dragged back to 
bondage. 

Resolved, That Lewis Cass and Daniel Webster, Senator Foote and Sen- 
ator Clay, and each and every one of the " comororaise committee of thirteen," 



428 AIJNALS OP LYNN — 1851. 

who repoi-ted aiid urged the passage of this bill, as well as every one wlio 
voted for its passage, are unworthy the votes of a free people for any office 
for which they may be hereafter named. 

In the course of a few months other large meetings were held, 
attended by prominent individuals of the several political parties, 
and similar resolutions adopted. Other places in the common, 
wealth were quite as much in a ferment as Lynn, and public 
opinion soon became so moulded that a legislature was elected 
which made such provisions that the operation of the law was 
seriously obstructed ; and the southerners grew rampant under 
what they declared to be Massachusetts nullification. Some 
very bad seeds were sown at this time. 

George Thompson, member of the British parliament, deliv- 
ered the introductory lecture before the Lynn Lyceum, on the 
21st of November. There was a very large attendance. His 
Bubject was Reforms in England. 

The Central Congregational meeting-house, Silsbe street, was 
dedicated on the 11th of December. 

Rev. Elbridge G. Brooks was installed minister of the First 
Universalist Society, on Sunday evening, December 22. 

The valuation of the real estate in Lynn, for this year, was 
$3,160,515; of personal, $1,674,328 — total, 4.834.843. Rate 
of taxation, $9 on $1,000. Number of polls, 3.215. City debt, 
$56,960.55. By turning to date 1860, the reader will have an 
opportunity to determine what progress had been made in these 
particulars in ten years. 

The whole number of deaths in Lynn, this year, was 262 ; of 
consumption, 43. Aggregate population, 14.257. Many have 
an impression that Lynn is an especially unfavorable locality 
for such as are liable to pulmonary diseases. But it is thought 
that a careful study of the bills of mortality will show that a 
smaller number of deaths, from all diseases, occur in Lynn, in a 
given period, than in almost any place of equal population, in 
New England ; and that though the consumptives here bear a 
greater proportion, they are yet less in the whole number than 
the consumptives in those other places. 

1851 

On Wednesday, 8 January, the commodious structure, erected 
on High street, for the use of the High School, was dedicated. 
The school was commenced 28 May, 1849, in the wooden school- 
house on Franklin street, under the charge of Jacob Batchelder, 
as principal. 

The carpenter shop of Thomas Taylor, on Sagamore street, 
was destroyed by fire, on the night of 4 February. And on 
Iklonday night, 17 February, the two story wooden building on 
Market street, corner of Essex, was nearly burned up. The 



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ANNALS OF LYNN — 1851. 429 

lower story was occupied as a crockery ware, grocery, and 
provision store. The Freemasons and two temperance societies 
bad their rooms above. 

On Snnda}'- evening, Marcli 11, a fcarn near the Dr. Cheever 
place, in Saugus, was burned, with about twelve tons of hay. 

On Tuesday, 18 March, a tremendous storm occurred. The 
tide was driven entirely over Long Beach, at several points, 
so that Nahant was literal!}^ an island. The new road, on the 
harbor side was much damaged, the marshes were submerged, 
and considerable injury was done to the rail-road bed. 

The second City Government was organized April 7 — George 
Hood, mayor, James R. Newhall, president of the common coun- 
cil, William Bassett, city clerk. 

On the 15th of April, another violent easterly storm com- 
menced, continuing two days. The wind was terrific, and 
much rain fell. A higher tide was occasioned than any since 
that driven in by the great gale of 1815. The sea again swept 
over Long Beach, to such an extent that a continuous sheet of 
raging water lay between Lynn and Nahant. Two men, on 
horseback, attempted to cross the Beach, but the horses were 
thrown down by a wave, and they were in great danger of losing 
their lives. The lower part of Beach street was submerged, 
and much lumber, wood, and other property floated off. This 
storm was more severe than that of the 18th of March. Seven 
successive tides rushed over the Beach, badly gullying the road 
80 lately built, and rendering it almost impassable. At Breed's 
mill, on Oak street, a part of the dam was carried away and 
much damage done, a more particular statement whereof may 
be found on page 411. But the most serious disaster on the 
coast was the destruction of the light-house on Minot's Ledge, 
and the loss of two faithful assistant keepers. The height of the 
building was seventy-five feet, and it was supposed to have been 
so strongly built as to survive any storm. It was seen to fall, 
a few minutes after midnight, by persons on board an inward 
bound vessel. 

After these two severe storms it became apparent that some- 
thing must speedily be done for the protection of the Beach or 
it would entirely disappear leaving the town exposed to the 
unobstructed inroads of the ocean. As the cheapest plan, it was 
concluded to place a line of red cedars along the ridge, working 
stones, sand, and sea debris as compactly as possible among 
them, A guard was thus formed, answering a very good pur- 
pose. The city appropriated $5,000 to the object. There 
should, however, be a substantial wall of stone ; and it is hoped 
that government will one day supply the need ; though there is 
not much prospect that they will do so at present. 

On Friday afternoon, May 2, Miss Sarah Churchill, aged 19, 



430 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1851. 

a daughter of Ivory Churchill, of Vine street, while on a pleas- 
ure ride with a young man named Davis, visited the Fort, at 
Marblehead. They rode on an embankment, and Mr. Davis step- 
ped from the chaise to turn the horse, when the animal suddenly 
backed the carriage over the embankment, at a perpendicular 
descent of some nine feet, and Miss Churchill was instantly 
killed, her neck being broken. She was buried from St. Ste- 
phen's church, on the following Sunday, and a great concourse 
attended the solemn service. 

On Sunday evening, 4 May, a barn on the Ballard estate, in 
Saugus, was destroyed by fire. An ox and a cow perished in 
the flames. 

At about noon, on Saturday, 28 June, Charles Furbush killed; 
John J. Perdy, at the boarding house of Mr. Bailey, on Market 
street, near the rail-road crossing. Furbush and Perdy were 
both journeymen shoemakers, boarding with Mr. Bailey. They 
had come home to dinner, and immediately after the meal was 
ended, Furbush went to his room, and Perdy went out, but 
soon returned, and went into the chamber where Furbush was. 
Presently two discharges of a pistol were heard, and some ex- 
cited ejaculations. The people below rushed to the chamber 
and found that Perdy had been shot; and he immediately ex- 
pired. Furbush was tried for murder, but acquitted on the 
ground of insanity. 

A petition was this year presented to the city council, by 
Hiram Marble, for leave to excavate Dungeon Rock. Leave 
was granted, in July, and then commenced those labors of Mr. 
Marble in that romantic locality, which will remain forever, 
evidence of his faith and perseverance. For a somewhat ex- 
tended notice of the whole subject see under date 1658. 

An effort was made this year, by a considerable number of 
ladies, to bring into flishion the Turkish costume, or, as it was 
called, the Bloomer-dress, from a lady of the name of Bloomer, 
who strongly urged its adoption. They however had but small 
success in inducing the sex generally to lay aside their graceful 
flowing robes for those which, though more picturesque and 
perhaps more convenient, have always, among the more fastidi- 
ous at least, been deemed less appropriate if not less modest. 
On a pleasant afternoon in July, a bevy of young ladies from 
Boston, richly and gaily habited in the new costume, left the 
cars at the Central Station, creating considerable observation if 
not admiration by their short tunics, full trowsers, bright sashes 
and jaunty hats. Quite a number of the young ladies of Lynn 
arrayed themselves in the new style, but such a strong prejudice 
against the innovation began to manifest itself, that they soon 
laid aside the unappreciated garments. 

On the afternoon of Wednesday, 13 August, during a thunder 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1851. 431 

shower, the lightning dtruck the house of Mr. Conner, on River 
street; and in a description of the singular effects, given bv 
one who soon after visited the premises it is stated that the light- 
ning descended the chimney, bursting it all to pieces as far down 
as the attic floor. Then it passed down a stove funnel to the 
chamber floor, bursting the cook stove, passing along the floor 
into a room adjoining, where two persons were taking tea. In 
its course here it tore up a large piece of the floor, upsetting 
the table, bursting out two whole windows in the room, break- 
ing the very chairs on which the persons sat, and throwing 
table, dishes, food, broken chairs, splinters of wood, and broken 
plastering, on all sides. Pieces of the broken iron and shivered 
wood were afterward to be seen sticking in the casings of the 
room, having been driven in, endwise, with much violence. 
From this room it could be traced to the basement, and off into 
the ground. And what is most wonderful of all, out of seven 
persons who were in the house at the time, none were seriously 
injured. The curious fact appeared, that pieces of the broken 
stove were so highly magnetized, that in one instance a piece 
about six inches square had strength enough to take board nails 
from the floor and hold them by the point. At about the same 
time that Mr. Conner's house was struck the lightning also struck 
the store of Mr. Yickary, in Gravesend village, somewhat injur- 
ing it, and knocking down one person. 

On Friday afternoon, 22 August, a fierce tornado visited this 
region. It was felt, however, to but a small extent in Lynn. 
At Woodend, a boat was thrown out of the pond, and an apple 
tree eight or ten inches in diameter torn up by the roots. In 
Gravesend, the lightning which accompanied the tornado, in one 
instance descended the chimney of a house and went out through 
the front door, taking the side-lights. But it was terrific in 
some of the adjacent places ; tearing up lofty trees, demolishing 
out buildings and fences, wrenching off roofs, and more or less 
injuring man}' persons who were exposed to its fury. 

The new grammar school-house at Nahant, was dedicated on 
Tuesday afternoon, 16 September. 

On Sunday, 21 September, a great fire raged in the woods. 
Some streets were filled with smoke, and much damage was 
done. 

The Independent Methodist meeting-house, at Nahant, was- 
dedicated on Thursday afternoon, 25 September. 

The Methodist meeting-house in Saugus, east village, was 
broken into on the night of Thursda)^, October 23, and* the mis 
sionary box robbed of six dollars, and some thirty yards of 
carpet stolen from the floor. 

On Sunday night, October 26, the British schooner Brothers, 
Captain Clark, was wrecked by striking on the outer ledge, off 



432 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1852 

Swampscot. The crew, seven in number, were landed in safety, 
about midnight, by the assistance of Edward C. Bates and his 
men, who heard their outcries and hastened to their succor. 
The wreck drifted over to the Nahant rocks, near Mr. Tudor's. 

The new grammar school-house in Woodend, was dedicated 
on Wednesday afternoon, 29 October. It was destroyed by fire, 
21 January, 1859, being then valued at $6,000. 

A new religious society, called the Central Unitarian Society, 
was formed in Lynn this year. They commenced worship in a 
hall, on Sunday, 9 November. This society was afterward dis- 
tinguished as the Free Church. 

Sagamore Building, near the Central Depot, was again nearly 
destroyed by fire, 14 November. 

The new grammar school-house in Gravesend was dedicated 
19 November. 

On Friday evening, 21 November, the brig Exile, of Yar- 
mouth, N. S., Captain Sharp, was wrecked on Long Beach. 
Large quantities of her deck load of wood were washed ashore, 
and by the means an immense fire was kindled on the Beach, 
by the light of which the multitude worked in saving the lives 
of the mariners, who were very much exhausted and in great 
peril. By half past one o'clock all were safe on shore, but the 
vessel was a total loss. It was estimated that there were a 
thousand people on the Beach that night, and the scene was 
one of terrific grandeur. 

The first power printing press ever used in Lynn was set up 
at the office of the Bay State on Christmas day. Before that 
all the printing here was done on hand presses. The second 
power press was set up in the Reporter office, in March, 1854. 

The first meetings of the Second Baptist Society of Lynn, 
were held this year. 

The legislature authorized the ofi'eringof a reward of $10,000 
for the discovery of a remedy for the potato rot. 

1852. 

On Wednesday night, 7 January, Joseph Barrett, of Graves- 
end, aged 70, was frozen to death on his way home from Salem, 
whither he had been to testify in the Perdy murder case. 

At about sunrise, on a morning in January, a noble eagle was 
observed, perched upon a house in Green street. Finding that 
he was attracting a good deal of attention, he presently soared 
away. 

A ligtit snow fell on Sunday evening, March 21, and the next 
morning mysterious footprints were discovered in the vicinity 
of Nahant street and Long Beach. They were of a shape that 
excited much curiosity, and no one was able to determine what 
sort of a creature had made them. But on Monday evening. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1852. 433 

Mr. John Barry shot a very large gray owl, on the marsh, near 
the foot of Pleasant street, and it was concluded that the won- 
derful tracks were made by him. He measured more than five 
feet from tip to tip of the wings. 

An act Avas passed, 26 March, to prevent the destruction of 
shad and alewives in Saugus river, and the tributary streams in 
the city of Lynn. Shad had long before disappeared, but ale- 
wives continued abundant. 

The Saugus Mutual Fire Insurance Company commenced 
business on the 1st of April. 

The organization of the third city government took place on 
the 5th of April. Edward S. Davis was elected president of 
the common council, and William Bassett, city clerk. Mr. Hood 
continued to act as mayor, no other having been elected. Daniel 
C. Baker and Benjamin F. Mudge were the principal candidates ; 
but there were sufficient scattering votes to defeat an election. 
The old majority law was then in force; and it was not till the 
eighth trial that a choice was effected. Mr. Mudge was elected, 
June 12, by a small majority, and took the oath of office, on 
the IGth of June. 

A violent snow storm occurred on the 6th of April, A foot 
of snow fell. There was also a snow storm on the 13th of April, 
during which from six to eight inches fell. 

On Thursday, 6 May, Louis Kossuth, the distinguished Hun- 
garian patriot visited Lynn, and was received with public 
honors. He arrived at about one o'clock in the afternoon, and 
a procession was formed which proceeded through the Common, 
between lines of public school children, and thence, by Market 
street, to Lyceum Hall, where an enthusiastic reception awaited 
him. He was quite ill, from exertion and exposure, but was 
able to speak for about three quarters of an hour. The proces- 
sion was imposing, embracing some military, the fire companies, 
the city government, associations, and citizens generally — with 
stirring music. It was thought that ten thousand persons were 
on the Common at the time the procession passed. Kossuth 
left in the afternoon. The day was quite warm, the thermom- 
eter standing at eighty. 

An act was passed by the legislature, 13 May, designed more 
effectuall}^ to restrain people from carrying away sand, sea-weed, 
and stones from the beaches. Much damage had been done by 
inconsiderate and mercenary trespassers. 

The Lynn City Guards were chartered this year. They were 
formed as an independent company, and for a short time called 
the Kossuth Guards, their first duty having been to serve as 
escort on the reception of Gov. Kossuth, May 6. They were 
chartered as an artillery company. William T. Gale was the 
first captain, but he resigned in August, and was succeeded by 
K2 28 



434 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1852. 

Thomas Herbert. Capt. Herbert resigned 15 May, 1857, and 
James Hudson, jr., was chosen commander. This was one of 
the companies belonging to the renowned Eighth Regiment, 
which so promptly responded to the first call of President Lin- 
coln, on the breaking out of the war of the great rebellion, in 
1861. In five hours after the unexpected requisition arrived in 
Lynn, this company and the Light Infantry were ready for duty. 
And they both departed in the forenoon of the next day. 

A band of music was formed in Lynn, this year, under the 
name of Mechanic Brass Band. 

Swarapscot was incorporated as a separate town, May 21. 
And on Saturday, the 29th, public festivities were held there in 
honor of the event. Bells were rung, cannon fired, and flags 
raised. In the afternoon there was a procession, with music by 
the Salem Brass Band, an address by Rev. J. B. Clark, and a 
collation. In the evening there was a torch-light procession 
and illuminations. 

On Thursday, June 3d, three men were in a boat, near Pig 
Rocks, when a severe squall struck them with such force as to 
lift the boat entirely out of the water. It was capsized, and 
two of the men, Mr. Small, of Swampscot, and Mr. Danforth, of 
East Boston, were drowned. 

The bells were tolled and flags raised at half-mast, on the 3d 
of July, by order of the city government, on account of the 
death of Henry Clay. 

The planet Venus was brighter in the month of July, than it 
had been for the ten preceding years. And for several nights 
the unusual occurrence of all the visible planets being above 
the horizon at the same time, was witnessed. 

In July, a rattlesnake, having ten rattles, and measuring 
nearly five feet in length, was killed on the Lynnfield road, by 
Joshua Soule. And on the 29th of July another was killed 
by Samuel J. Sargent, measuring five feet in length and eleven 
inches in girth, and having twelve rattles. Still another was 
killed in August, on the Turnpike, between Lynn and Boston, 
by a Mr. Grout, which was four and a half feet long and had 
seven rattles. 

On the 28th of August, Mrs. Jerusha Rhodes died, aged a 
• little more than 97 years — being the oldest person then in Lynn. 

On Thursday, 2 September, the Sixth Regiment of Infantry 
went into camp at Lynn, occupying the field on the southeast 
corner of "Washington and Laighton streets. Many military 
notables and others were present from abroad. Some gamblers 
and pickpockets also made their appearance, but the police 
interfered with their arrangements. 

Building was very active during the spring and summer of 
this year. Many houses of the better sort were erected. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1852. 435 

On Wednesday, 15 September, the new meeting-house of tlie 
Trinitarian Congregational Society, in Saugus, was dedicated. 
It cost S5.500. 

An omnibus commenced running between the east and west 
sections of Lynn, in October, and was continued till the horse 
rail-road was built. 

Funeral services were held in the First Congregational meet- 
ing-house, on Friday, 29 October, in memory of Daniel Webster, 
it being the day on which his funeral took place at Marshfield. 
The city council attended, each member wearing a badge of 
mourning on his left arm. The house was appropriately draped. 
Minute guns were fired on the Common from twelve to one 
o'clock, the bells were tolled, and flags raised at half-mast. 

Died, on Tuesday, 9 November, Isaac Gates, aged 74. He 
practiced law in Lynn, for many years, but closed his life at 
Harvard, his native place. He had been unwell, but recovered, 
as was supposed, and went to the polls to vote the day before 
his death. He retired apparently in good health and was found 
dead in his bed the next morning. He graduated at Cambridge, 
with the class of 1802, and possessed good natural abilities, but 
had such eccentricities and irregularities, as tended to impede 
his success ; and he never prospered much at the bar. His 
style of address was dogmatical, and his expressions extrav- 
agant; but he possessed an abundance of grating wit and 
loved much to indulge his powers of sarcasm, particularly in 
the political caucus. His talents were sufficient to have ren- 
dered him conspicuous and useful in any community; but in 
him was afforded another of those instances over which the 
philanthropist is so often called to lament. He took a good 
deal of interest in the management of town affairs, and often 
wrote timely articles for the newspapers ; but his really judi- 
cious suggestions too frequently lost their force through some 
luj-king prejudice or severity of expression. He also loved 
to write political articles for the newspapers, but his style even 
here was often so pungent as to destroy the effect. Neverthe- 
less 'Squire Gates, as he was popularly called, secured many 
friends by his good nature and readiness to do a neighborly act. 
The following very well exhibits a common way he had of giv- 
ing vent to his humor. He had in the court of common pleas 
defended a man of notoriously intemperate habits against the 
charge of being a common drunkard, and by some strange 
good luck succeeded in winning from the jury a verdict of 
not guilty. The man was so elated that he began to stammer 
out his thanks. Mr. Gates, perceiving his object, sprang to his 
feet, and throwing up his spectacles, exclaimed, in that earnest 
manner which every one who knew him will remember, " There, 
there! don't you try to say any thing; the jury on their oath 



436 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1853. 

declare that you are not a drunkard. Now go right home and 
see if you can't keep sober for a Aveek, a thing that you know 
you haven't done for the hist six months." Before coming to 
L3'nn Mr. Gates practiced in Concord, N. H., and Brunswick, Me. 
He had one son and three daughters, and the family were refined 
and highly esteemed. 

On the 26th of November, an earthquake was felt at Lynn. 

A bell was raised on the meeting-house of the Trinitarian 
Congregational Society, in Lynnfield, November 26. And this 
was the first church bell in the town. 

At the great World's ^Pair held in London, this year, several 
lots, of shoes, the product of Lynn industry, were exhibited, 
highly praised, and in one or two instances took prizes. 

18 5 3. 

On Monday, January 3d, a prize fight took place between 
two pugilists from Boston, in a fieki bordering on the north- 
eastern road to Lynnfield. The stakes were $300. The fight 
was arranged in Boston, continued about an hour, and was 
witnessed by a large number of persons, many of whom came 
in carriage* from other places. The combatants were badly 
bruised. The city marshal succeeded in arresting one of the par- 
ties who was afterward convicted in the court of common pleas. 

The gas was lighted in Lynn, for the first time, on Thursday 
night, 13 January. The price to consumers was fixed at $3.50 
a thousand cubic feet. 

On the 16th of January, the harbor was frozen to Sand Point; 
on the 23d it was clear of ice ; and on the next day it was 
again frozen to Chelsea. 

The new grammar school-house in the fourth ward was dedi- 
cated on the 25th of January. 

On Tuesday, February 1, the cars commenced running over 
the Saugus Branch Rail-road. 

On Monday afternoon, February 14, Richard Roach, a man 
about forty years of age, was at work near the Lynn Common 
rail-road depot, sawing wood with a steam circular saw. The 
balance wheel suddenly exploded, with a terrific report, and 
fragments flew in all directions, one of them striking the unfor- 
tunate man just above the chin, and knocking his head com- 
pletely off, with the exception of a part of the jaw. Another 
part of the wheel was thrown with such force as to cut off a 
four-inch joist and shoot to a distance of a quarter of a mile ; 
and two pieces landed on Boston street. 

Nahant was incorporated as a separate town, March 29. 

The organization of the fourth city government took place 
on Monday, April 4 — Daniel C. Baker, mayor, Edward S. Davis, 
president of the common council, Charles Merritt, city clerk. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1853. 437 

On Friday afternoon, May 20, the remains of Jesse Hutchin- 
son were buried from the stone cottage at High Rock, which 
was built by him six years before. He was one of the band of 
vocalists known as the Hutchinson brothers, though his duties 
lay rather in making arrangements and writing songs than iu 
singing. He was the poet of the family, had much skill in 
touchinp^ the popular vein, and would, could he have been per- 
suaded to spend a little more time and thought in elaborating 
some of his pieces, have left what would have endured. He 
had a social disposition though his temper was impulsive ; and 
he possessed many eccentricities that were attractive, coupled 
Avith some that were not. He had a good printing-office educa- 
tion, had traveled some, read a great deal, and his mind was 
well stored with information, much of which was unavailable in 
the practical concerns of life. He was a spiritualist, and, it is 
said, pledged himself to return, after entering the spirit land, 
and convince mankind of the truth of his views. But from 
some cause, he appears to have failed in fulfilling his pledge. 
He died at Cincinnati, where he had stopped at a water-cure 
establishment on his way home from'. California, in the hope of 
recovering his health. He was the father of several children, 
all of whom died young, and before his own decease. 

The Lynn Light Infantry was chartered this year. This was 
the second company of the name formed in Lynn. See under 
date 1846. 

Boston street Methodist Society was organized this year, and 
their meeting-house dedicated on Thursday, 9 June. 

During a thunder shower, on the 23d of July, electrical dis- 
charges were heard in several places near where telegraph wires 
ran, resembling the discharges of muskets. When one of the 
explosions took place near the Central Depot, two horses were 
thro\yn to their knees. At the mill on Saugus river, as one of 
the discharges took place the glass attachment on the ridge-pole 
was shivered and pieces sent to the distance of a hundred rods. 

A comet was visible in August. It was about as bright as a 
star of thg third magnitude and had a tail two degrees in length, 
extending upward. The best view was when it was in the west, 
an hour or two after sunset. 

On Friday morning, IGth September, a fire broke out in a 
building on the north side of Federal square, owned by Joseph 
jMoulton, jr. A store and dwelling-house were destroyed and 
several other buildings injured. Loss $3,000. 

Patrick McGuire, an Irishman, aged about 23, was fatally 
stabbed in Franklin street, at half past nine o'clock on Monday 
evening, September 26. The murdered man was thought to 
have been mistaken for another. The murderer escaped. 

On Monday night, 24 October, a severe gale took place. The 
K2* 



438 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1854. 

eastern wing of Nahant Hotel, eighty feet in length and thirty 
in breadth, and containing sixty sleeping rooms and the large 
dinino: hall, fell, with a tremendous crash. It had been raised 
from the foundation for the purpose of being altered. 

Albert Gove, aged 51, while near the Central Depot, 25 Octo- 
ber, was caught by the arm, by a locomotive, and dragged some 
two hundred feet. His injuries caused his death, two days 
after. His spectacles were found on the cow-catcher, at the 
Salem depot. 

1854. 

Pine Grove Cemetery was convej^ed to the City, January 2, 
by the Corporation. 

During the first week in January, there were four snow 
storms. Between two and three feet fell. The rail-road trains 
were much impeded. On Thursday, five locomotives were 
joined to force a morning train from Lynn to Boston. Some 
damage was done to Nahant Hotel, by the wind. 

Early this year various fashions in wearing the beard began 
to be adopted. A great many laid aside the razor altogether, 
and allowed it full scope ; others kept it within what was to 
them a convenient length, b}'' the use of the scissors; others 
entertained only mustaches; and soon as great diversity pre- 
vailed as existed in the tastes and whims of those who cultivated 
the masculine appendage. 

The Legislature passed the plurality law in February. This 
was a great convenience and the means of saving much expense 
at elections. In a community where the number of voters is few, 
it may operate well to require a majority for an election. But 
where the number reaches to thousands, and there must neces- 
sarily be many opposing candidates, a plurality law seen# a 
necessity. The majority requisition was a great burden to 
Lynn, where there were usually more than two parties. It was 
not till the eighth trial that the mayor was elected, in 1852. 

On Friday niglit, March 17, a violent gale con>menced from 
the northeast, continuing through Saturday. For a few da3'-s 
previous the weather had been quite warm, with some thunder 
and lightning; but when the wind set in so violently the tempe- 
rature changed with a suddenness seldom witnessed even here. 
In about five hours the thermometer sank from near summer 
heat to below freezing point. The wind was so powerful as to 
overthrow several chimneys, and the lofty flag-staff at East Sau- 
gus. Upon the Eastern Rail-road a train was brought to a full 
stop, while passing over the marshes, by the force of the wind. 
Mr. Stevens, of the Tremont House, Boston, while attempting 
to ride across Long Beach, on his way to Nahant, ibund himself 
and bis horse in danger of being buried by the drifting sand. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1854. 439 

and was compelled to give up the attempt and return to Lynn. 
Old people at Nahaut declared that so severe a gale had not 
before taken place, within their recollection. 

The Lynn Weekly Reporter was commenced on the 25th of 
March, by Peter L. Cox and Henry S. Cox. 

The organization of the fifth city government took place on 
Monday, .April 3 — Thomas P. Richardson, mayor, Gustavus 
Attwill, president of the common council, Charles Merritt, city 
clerk. 

John Estes died, 30 May, aged 41, of lockjaw. About a fort- 
night before, he stepped on a rusty nail, wounding his foot; but 
the wound apparently healed and he thought nothing further 
of it for some days. But on the Saturday before his death he 
took cold, and on Monday took to his bed, complaining of an 
unpleasant feeling in his head. His jaws presently became 
fixed and no eft'ort could relax the muscles. MortificatioD 
ensued and on Tuesday afternoon he died. 

A large *nd beautiful elm, on Washington square, died in 
Ma}', as was supposed from the effects of gas that had leaked 
from the under-ground pipes. Several other fine trees, among 
them a stately elm on South Common street, which had cast its 
shade for sixty years, died about the same time, and as was 
thought, from the same cause ; also one on Market street, corner 
of Liberty. 

On Friday, IG June, a little son of C. W. Jewett, died from 
injuries received while attempting to turn summersets. 

On Saturday morning, 8 July, a car load of cotton belonging 
to a Saco company, on arriving at Lynn was found to have 
taken fire from a spark from the locomotive. Alarm was given 
and the fire engines appeared. After considerable exertion the 
fire was extinguished. Some fifteen bales were destroyed. 

There was a great drought this year. No rain fell for six 
weeks immediately preceding the first of September. On that 
da)' copious showers took phice, much to the refreshment of 
parched nature. 

On the 8d of August, Henry Thomas shot a white-faced seal 
ofi" Swampscot. The animal was four feet in length and weighed 
forty pounds. 

Mackerel were unusually plenty on the coast this year. Old 
fishermen declared them to be more so than at any other time 
within twenty-five years. Considerable quantities were taken 
from the wharves in Lynn. 

The City Bank went into operation in September. Capital^ 
$100,000. John C. Abbott, president; B. V. French, jr., cashier. 

The Cemetery at Swampscot was consecrated in September. 

Sagamore Hotel was built this year. The stone dwelling on 
the point of Sadler's Rock, at the junction of Walnut and Hoi- 



440 , ANNALS OP LYNN — 1854. 

yoke streets, was also built tbis year. Tbe stone was taken 
from the hill above, and affords a fair specimen of large deposits. 
Our rough and partially barren hills contain that which at some 
future da}^ may be esteemed rich treasure. In elevated locali- 
ties especially, stone is far preferable to wood as a building 
material, not only because it is more substantial and durable, 
but also because it is so much less liable to be affected by 
atmospheric changes. There were only three stone houses ia 
Lj^nn when this was built. But a novel material for building 
began to be used to some extent at tbis time. It consisted of 
coarse gravel, with about one twelfth part of lime, worked into 
mortar. Many believed it would be sufficient to form walls'firm 
enough for large dwellings. But the delusion was dispelled in 
a singular and effectual manner, on Monday afternoon, November 
13. Joseph Hay had employed William H. Mills, a carpenter, to 
erect for him, on Breed street, near Lewis, a dwelling-house, 
the dimensions of which, on the ground, were thirty-four by 
twenty-eight feet, with an L twenty-three b}^ eighteen feet. 
The walls, which were of this new material, had been carried 
np twenty-two feet from the underpinning, and the roof was put 
on early in October. The house was now — November 13 — 
lathed, and ready for the inside plastering. Ten persons were 
at work within, when, without any premonition, and with a 
tremendous crash, the whole fabric fell to the ground. A cloud 
of dust ascended and great alarm spread. Nothing remained 
but a heap of rubbish. Mr. Hay had three of his ribs broken ; 
a young man had an arm broken ; and several others were badly 
bruised ; no one, however, was fatally injured. After this catas- 
trophe, the "mud houses," as they were called, were looked 
upon with little favor. But it should be added that one or two 
smaller buildings, of similar material, erecte*:! about the same 
time, are still standing. The ingredients may, however, have 
been better proportioned, or the weather during the time of 
building may have been more favorable. It is quite certain 
that in a climate as variable as that of New England, something 
more substantial is required. 

The rail-road running from Danvers to South Reading, through 
Lynnfield, was opened for public travel, in connection with the 
Danvers and Georgetown rail-road, on the 23d of October. 

An unusually protracted and delightful period of Indian sum- 
mer ended on the 28th of October. The natural cause of the 
beautiful autumn weather known in New England as Indian 
summer still remains unknown. Some naturalists think it pro- 
ceeds from a chemical condition of the atmosphere produced by 
the ripening and falling of the foliage. 

Brick side walks began to be laid in Lynn this year, though a 
few trifling patches existed before. With a view to encourage 



AHNALS OP LYNN — 1854. 441 

the improvement, the city government passed an order that 
granite curb stones shonld be furnished and set at the public 
expense, in all cases where individuals would furnish and lay 
the bricks. 

On Sunday evening, December 3, a violent wind with rain 
and hail arose and did considerable damage, breaking trees and 
destroying fences. Two dwelling houses in process of erection 
at Bass Point, Nahant, were blown down. 

During the winter of this )'ear there were thirty-five storms, 
and a more than usual aggregate of snow. 

The boundary line between Lynnfield and Reading was estab- 
lished this year. 

Two of those financial anomalies called loan and fund associa- 
tions were formed this year ; one called the " Lynn Mutual Loan 
and Fund Association," and the other the " West Lynn Loan 
and Fund Association." It is not singular, as may be remarked 
in general, and with no special reference to the Lynn associ- 
ations, that many of that large class who in the hot pursuit of 
riches rely rather upon their supposed shrewdness than any 
settled business principle or mathematical rule, and have a child- 
like credulity in regard to any speculation that promises in- 
crease, should roadiiy join such associations as these; but it 
is singular that so many reputable and experienced business 
men, sliould have so readily given countenance to what was so 
questionable. Some expected to derive from them large benefits 
as borrowers and others as lenders. But most were disappoint- 
ed ; for it turned out as a few careful computers declared, that 
miscalculations had entered into the plans of operation. The 
modes by which these associations operated were complicated 
and not easily understood ; and perhaps that very thing was 
one cause of their acceptance ; for many minds are charmed with 
what is mysterious, and disdainful of what is simple. A portion 
of those connected with these associations complained bitterly 
of their usurious and oppressive management. And the supreme 
court was appealed to for the righting of some of the alleged 
wrongs; but the appeal was barren of the expected results. 
They were relieved from the charge of usury; and the purgation 
was followed by such reasoning as to satisfy honest and reflect- 
ino: men that the tribunal still remains a human institution. 

For several years a difference had existed among the Friends, 
occasioned by some of their distinguished writers having advo- 
cated and published sentiments which were deemed by a large 
portion of the society to be at variance with some of its well- 
known and fundamental principles. This difference at length 
resulted in a division or separation in the Yearly Meeting of 
New England, one branch professing to adhere uncompromis- 
ingly to the original ground, while the other had so far aban- 



442 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1855. 

doned that ground as to acknowledge religious fellowship and 
unity with those who had sought to introduce their modified 
views into the churcli. A large proportion of the Friends' 
Meeting in Lynn having declared themselves subordinate to 
this latter body, no alternative remained for those members 
who could not join in this course but to meet apart from them 
and thus sustain or continue the Meeting in connection with 
the Yearl}'- Meeting which had resisted the innovations upon 
its discipline and doctrines. This j^ear they erected a neat 
meeting-house on Cambridge street. Perhaps the reader will 
be enabled to form some just conception of the differences 
existing between the two parties by the statement that both 
contended that they were the true Quakers. Those who re- 
tained possession of the meeting-house, approved the teachings 
of Joseph John Gurney, an English Quaker, and considered that 
the reading of the scriptures forms an essential part of family 
and private devotion — that the scriptures alone reveal the true 
character of sin — that the observance of the sabbath is impor- 
tant — that the written gospel becomes the power of God unto 
salvation — that Christ will come again literally. The other 
party, in accordance with the ministration of John Wilbur and 
the early Quakers, held that the influence of the Holy Spirit, 
within the heart, was the true gospel, and alone sufficient for 
salvation — that the sabbath is a Jewish institution, the first 
day of the week not being the anti-type thereof nor the true 
christian sabbath, which, with Calvin, they believed to have a 
more spiritual sense — that the reading of the scriptures is 
profitable, but the knowledge of them not so essential to the 
understanding or practice of a holy life as to preclude the pos- 
sibility of leading such a life without it — that Christ has come 
already spiritually. 

1855. ^ 

By an amendment of the city charter, the municipal year 
was made to commence on the first Monday in January instead 
of the first Monday in April. 

The influx of the sea was so great during the violent storms 
in the early part of this year that considerable damage was 
done to the embankments along Ocean street. Many bathing 
houses were thrown down and King's Beach was at times com- 
pletely overflowed. 

" Josselyn's Lynn Daily," a good sized, well printed and ably 
edited sheet was commenced in January, and continued for 
some months, by Lewis Josselyn. 

On the morning of January 10, Samuel Newhall shot, near 
Saugus river, two eagles — one gray and the other bald. 

There was an interval of severe cold early in February. On 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1855. 443 

the morning of the 5th, the body of a well-dressed man was 
found in the road between Lynn and Danvers. He had evidently 
frozen to death. On the 7th, the thermometer stood at eighteen 
degrees below zero, in the morning, but at noon it was eight 
above ; making a change of twenty-six degrees in four hours. 

The new Methodist meeting-house in East Saugus, was dedi- 
cated on Thursday forenoon, 22 February. Sermon by Bishop 
Janes. The cost of the edifice, including furnishings, was about 
$9,000. 

On Tuesday forenoon, 27 February, Mrs. Mary Farley, aged 
28, died from the efi'ects of ether. She went into the office of 
a respectable and skillful dentist, near the Central Depot, for 
the purpose of having a tooth extracted, and desired that ether 
might be administered. The operator advised against it, but 
after being urged complied. She died immediately, without 
returning to consciousness. A coroner's inquest was held, and 
the verdict was that she died from congestion of the lungs, 
caused by inhaling the ether. And the jury exonerated the 
operator from all blame in the unfortunate matter. 

During the week ending March 3, the Swampscot fishermen 
were unusually successful. The number of boats employed 
was fourteen, and the aggregate tonnage, six hundred. The 
total number of men employed was one hundred and twenty-six, 
and the fish which they caught sold for $5,272.00. None of the 
boats, excepting one, were out more than five days. 

Rev. Jotham B. Sewall was installed pastor of the Central 
Church, Silsbe street, on Wednesday, 7 March. 

The Lynn Library Association was incorporated in March. 

On Saturday evening, 31 March, some gentlemen at Little 
Beach captured a black-fish, eighteen feet in length. The blub- 
ber produced two barrels of oil. 

Seven thousand tons of ice were cut in the ponds of Lynn 
during the last winter. 

The Lynn Musical Association was incorporated this year. 

On Sunday, 6 May, a large tract of woodland, in Saugus, was 
burned over. A striking display was made by the fire, at night. 

Early on Friday morning, May 11, the shoe manufactory of 
Nelson Raddin, near East Saugus bridge, was burned, and with 
it a large amount of stock. 

Several young men made a trial of their powers in a pedes- 
trian contest, in June. Albert Ramsdell ran three fourths of a 
mile in two minutes and fifty seconds ; Jacob Ramsdell ran 
the same distance in two minutes and fifty-five seconds ; and 
Charles Breed equalled the latter. E. F. Newhall ran one mile, 
on Long Beach, in five minutes and fifteen seconds. A. M. Col- 
yer, a shoemaker, ran a mile in five minutes and twenty-seven 
seconds, barefoot, and on hard ground. 



444 ANNALS OP LYNN — 1855/ 

On the IGtli of June, a turtle, weigbing thirty-five pounds, 
was caught in Floating Bridge pond. 

True Moody died on Sunday morning, 17 June. He was a 
colored man and had been out-door servant and hostler at Lynn 
Hotel for about forty years. He was a native of New Hamp- 
shire, an honest man and a faithful servant, and acquitted him- 
self so willingly and skillfully in his humble calling that travelers 
regarded him with great favor. In person he was stout, and 
possessed in a well-developed form, all the physical peculiarities 
that distinguish the African race. His mouth was capacious 
and answered the novel purpose of a temporary savings bank ; 
for in it he was accustomed to deposit the pecuniary gratuities 
that were bestowed by the numerous visitors at the house, till 
he could find time to remove them to a more suitable place, or 
till he required his mouth for some more legitimate use. And 
there is an account of a wager by some young men as to the 
amount of silver change in his mouth at a given time. To 
determine the bet he consented, with his usual good nature, to 
discharge the deposits into a bowl, when they were found to 
amount to a little more than five dollars, the whole being in 
small pieces. By his gains in this humble way, he was enabled 
to secure a comfortable home and respectably support a family. 
By the failure of Nahant Bank, in 1836, he lost some five hun- 
dred dollars, which was a sad misfortune. And the Eastern 
Rail-road, which was built a few years afterward, by diverting 
travel from the Hotel, which for many years had ranked as one 
of the best in the vicinity, greatly reduced his income. It ia 
said that at this period he was accustomed to retire to a corner 
of the deserted stable and weep. He long bore the name of 
Master True, and few persons were better known to travelers. 
And he knew all the noted characters who traveled the road, 
many of whom would rather have lost an hour on their jour- 
ney than an opportunity to have a chat with him. It- is said 
that Harrison Gray Otis was accustomed to speak of him as an 
acquaintance, and a man of great moral worth. Some newspa- 
pers stated that he was ninety-seven years old at the time of his 
death ; but this was probably far from the truth ; or he must 
have been endowed with extraordinary physical powers. His 
history affords another illustration of the fact that diligence 
and faithfulness, even in the most lowly occupation will attract 
attention and ensure reward. 

The electric telegraph to Nahant was put in operation this 
summer. 

The bakery of J. C. Eldred, on Commercial street, was de- 
stroyed by fire on Friday night, 10 August. Loss $3,500. 

On Monday, 20 August, a horse mackerel, weighing a thou- 
sand pounds, and measuring ten feet in length and six in girth, 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1856. 445 

was captured between Egg Rock and the Swampscot shore, by 
three men from Swampscot. 

A severe drought prev?iiled during the last of summer and 
first of autumn. 

A sad accident occurred at Dungeon Rock, September 19. Ed- 
win Marbk\ who was assisting his father in the work in progress 
there, and Benjamin Mann, were engaged in blasting, when a 
charge prematurely exploded, breaking Edwin's left arm and two 
of the fingers of his right hand; also badly cutting and bruising 
his face and neck. Mr. Mann was likewise bruised, though he 
escaped with comparatively little injury. 

David S. Proctor, of Swampscot, during three days hunting 
in Lynn woods, killed three foxes and forty gray squirrels. 

On Sunday, 25 November, the Catholic church, on Ash street, 
was consecrated, by Bishop Fitzpatrick. Nearly three hundred 
persons were confirmed on the same day. The main portion 
of the building was old. It was built by the Methodists ; after- 
ward occupied by the Baptists ; and later still used for the sixth 
ward grammar school. The Catholics purchased, repaired, and 
enlarged it, rendering it capable of accommodating something 
over a thousand worshipers. This was the first Roman Catho- 
lic church in Lynn. See under date 1815. 

Michael Dolan, aged 22, was knocked down by a rail-road 
train from Boston, at the Market street crossing, 21 December, 
and so much injured as to cause his death. 

At the close of December there was a splendid display of 
frosted trees, continuing three days. Few people ever witnessed 
such a fairy-like exhibition. It appeared to me far superior to 
that noticed under date 1829. In the forest, when the sun was 
shining brightly, one could hardly realize that he had not been 
transported to some enchanted land. 

The Lynn Five Cents Savings Bank commenced receiving 
deposits, November 27 — George Hood, president. 

There were issued in Lynn, during this year, one hundred 
and sixty-three marriage certificates. 

1856. 

On Saturday, January 5, a violent snow storm commenced, 
and continued through Sunday. A great quantity of snow fell, 
and the wind blew a hurricane from the northeast. Rail-road 
traveling was greatly obstructed. The half past six o'clock 
train from Boston, on Saturday evening, was twenty-two hours 
in reaching Salem ; it became fast bound, a short distance east of 
the Swampscot station, and had to remain through the night, 
the passengers, among whom were some twenty ladies, suffering 
much from the intense cold, and want of food. For several 
days after the storm the weather was very cold, the thermome- 
L2 



446 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1856. 

ter, on Wednesday, standing at twelve degrees below zero. In- 
deed the winter of 1855-6 was one of marked severity. From 
Christmas to near the middle of March, the same snow, in many 
instances, remained on the roofs. Sleighing commenced the 
day after Christmas and continued between eighty and ninety 
consecutive days. On the morning of the 10th of March, the 
thermometer, in various parts of Lynn, stood at ten degrees 
below zero. The ice in the harbor broke up on the 19th of 
March. Cutting winds from the northwest greatly prevailed 
for ten weeks preceding the middle of March, adding much to 
the piercing effects of the cold. 

On the 17th of January, George H. Jillson, aged 46, a carpen- 
ter, employed on Nahant Hotel, was so badly injured by the 
falling of a board from the fifth story, upon him, that he died on 
the following Sunday. 

A pair of bald eagles were seen upon the ice in Lynn harbor, 
17 January, 

On Tuesday, 12 February, Ezra R. Tibbetts, a respectable 
citizen of Lynn, while passing along the side-walk in Bromfield 
street, Boston, was killed by the falling of a body of ice and 
snow from a three story building, upon his head. He was a 
mason by trade, and an industions, worthy man. He held vari- 
rious responsible offices under the old town government. Tib- 
betts's Building, so called, on Market street, was built by him. 

On the night of 27 February, a sudden and vivid flash lighted 
up the whole atmosphere. It resembled lightning, in some 
respects, though no thunder was heard. It was probably some 
brilHant meteor passing behind the clouds. 

On Tuesday evening, April 8, a farewell meeting was held at 
the First Methodist meeting-house, on the occasion of Rev. 
"William Butler's departure for his field of duty as superintendent 
of the Methodist missions in'India. Several dignitaries from the 
church at large were present and the exercises were instructive 
and impressive. Mr. Butler received his credentials and charges 
at this meeting. Soon after his arrival in India, the great Sepoy 
revolt took place, and he was subjected to much loss though 
he escaped personal harm. 

On the morning of April 10, the carpenter shop of William 
H. Mills, on Chesnut street, was destroyed by fire with all its 
contents. Loss, about $1,400. 

A severe northeast storm began oh Saturday evening, 19 
April, and continued to rage till Monday night. Numerous 
buildings were more or less injured. The steeple of the Meth- 
odist meeting-house at Swampscot, then in process erection, 
was blown down. 

The brick school-house on Howard street, was destroyed by 
fire on the morning of May 15. Loss $1,500. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1856. 447 

Stephen Palmer, a carpenter, aged 53, fell from a staging, while 
at work on the house of Holten Johnson, at the eastern end 
of the Common, on the 15th of May, and was so injured that he 
lay senseless till the morning of the 18th, when he died. 

The first Methodist meeting-house at Swampscot, was dedi- 
cated on Monday, June 30. Bishop Simpson preached the 
sermon. 

As an instance of the quick work of one of our Lynn shoe- 
makers, it may be stated that Francis D. Rhodes, in fifty days, 
made, in a good, workmanlike manner, seven hundred and 
pinety-two pairs of ladies' shoes, at twenty-two cents a pair, 
jthus earning, in less than two months, $174.24. They were, 
of course, made entirely by hand. 

On the evening of 26 June, a Mrs. Brazil, visiting at the house 
of John Regan, South Common street, attempted to fill a lamp 
with burning fluid, when an explosion took place, setting fire to 
her clothes. A child ran toward her, the fire was communicated 
to its garments, and it was so much burned that it died. Mrs. 
Brazil was not fatally injured. This was one of many accidents 
that took place about this time from the explosive burning fluid 
then in such common use. 

The new school house in the centre district of Lynnfield was 
dedicated on the 11th of July. 

On the 16th of July, Capt. William T. Gale, fell down a flight 
of stairs in the Bay State Building, Central Square, and so in- 
jured himself that he died the next day, remaining insensible 
during the mean time. He was for a number of years commander 
of the Lynn Artillery, and was buried with military honors. 

A, horse-mackerel, nine feet in length, and weighing nearly a 
thousand pounds was captured oflp Nahant, 16 July. 

On the 26th of July the thermometer stood at from ninety- 
seven to a hundred degrees, in the shade, in different parts of 
Lynn; and for the preceding five consecutive days it had stood 
above ninety during some part of the day. 

A colored youth named Francis P. Haskell, aged 20, was 
drowned in the Flax pond, on the 3d of August. He rode a 
horse in to water, and not loosening the martingale the animal 
became restiff, threw his rider over his head, and with his fore 
feet thrust him under water. 

There was a severe drought this summer. It ended on the 
night of August 5, when a copious rain commenced, continuing 
in almost unbroken torrents till Wednesday noon. On the next 
Friday there was a violent thunder storm. The house of Dr. 
Asa T. Newhall, on Olive street, was struck and damaged to the 
amount of $250. A house on the opposite side of the same 
street was also struck; likewise a brick house on Sea street, 
the latter having every pane of glass, in one window, broken. 



448 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1856. 

Two gentlemen were riding over Long Beach, when the pole 
of their carriage was struck and shivered into innumerable 
splinters. The bouse of John Blaney, in Swampscot, was also 
struck. Indeed the lightning struck in some twenty places, 
within a circuit of ten miles. The storm was extraordinary for 
its -duration, raging, with very brief intervals, for full fourteen 
hours. Between five and eight o'clock in the afternoon it was 
very severe ; but from half past eleven to half past one in the 
night it was really appalling — the thunder jarring the most 
substantial fabrics, the lighting gleaming with blinding intensity, 
the rain pouring down in equatorial torrents, and the wind 
roaring furiously. 

Out-door services were held in Lynn, this year, by several 
of our clergymen. Dr. Cooke, of the First Church, preached 
his first field sermon on Sunday, 7 September, on the Common. 
But the experiment, on the whole, was not successful, the wea- 
ther often interfering with the arrangements. The groves are 
indeed beautiful temples, but in a climate so variable as that of 
New England not so convenient for fashionable worshipers. 

Egg Rock light was shown, for the first time, on Monday, 
night, 15 September. The cost of the building was $3,700. 
It was built by Ira P. Brown. On the 8th of July, a company 
of gentlemen from Lynn and the neighboring places visited the 
rock and held a jovial celebration. 

Patrick Buckley, the " Lynn Buck," ran five miles in twenty- 
eight minutes and thirty-eight seconds, at the Trotting Park, 
September 19, for a belt valued at $50. And on the 4th of 
December, William Hendley ran the same distance in twenty- 
eight minutes and thirty seconds. 

The schooner Shark, Captain Carlisle bound from Bristol,' Me. 
for Boston, with wood, was wrecked on Long Beach, 30 Sep- 
tember. The cargo Avas strewed along the shore and the vessel 
went to pieces ; but no lives were lost. The disaster was 
occasioned by the Egg Rock light being mistaken for that on 
Long Island. 

Forest Hill Cemetery, Lynnfield, was consecrated October 
14. Addresses were delivered by Rev. E. R. Hodgman and 
Rev. A. P. Chute. 

Some of the Swampscot fishermen were very successful 
about the close of the year. During the week ending Decem- 
ber 13, the schooner Flight, Captain Stanley, with thirteen hands, 
caught 62.700 pounds of cod fish. And a short time before, the 
crew of the Jane caught in one day, among a large quantity of 
cod fish of the ordinary size, twelve wliich weighed on an average 
fifty-six pounds each. Captain Nathaniel Blanchard caught one 
cod fish which weighed ninety-four pounds, gross, and seventy- 
eight pounds dressed. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1857. 449 



1857. 

A very violent snow storm commenced on Sunday, January 
18. It had been extremely. cold. On Friday, the thermometer 
sank to twenty-two degrees below zero, and on the morning of 
the day on which the storm began, it was from twelve to 
twenty below. The wind was high, and the snow drifted furi- 
ously. So great a quantity fell that almost all travel was sus- 
pended for one or two days. Three powerful engines were 
required to force the formidable snow plough along the rail-road 
track. It was not till Tuesday afternoon that trains were able 
to reach Lynn from Salem and Boston ; at which time one 
arrived from each place, drawn by four engines. The way 
being thus opened, other trains followed, and there were eleven 
engines at the Lynn station, at one time. Much damage was 
done on the coast and the beaches bore melancholy evidence 
of the perils of the sea. 

The bark Tedesco was totally wrecked in the terrible storm 
spoken of in the foregoing paragraph. She was commanded 
by Captain Peterson, of Portland, and was from Cadiz, with a 
cargo of wine and salt. She was driven ashore at Long Rock, 
Swampscot, below the Ocean House, and soon went to pieces. 
All on board, twelve in number, perished. Six of the dead 
bodies were buried from the Methodist meeting-house in Swamp- 
scot, at one time. The vessel was valued at $15,000, and the 
cargo at the same. The captain had been married, at Cadiz, 
immediately before sailing, but his wife was not on board. 

From the 7th day of January to the 20th, Mercury, Venus, 
Mars and Jupiter were all visible in the western hemisphere, 
and Saturn in the eastern. Uranus was also visible by glasses. 
Such an occurrence, it is said, Copernicus longed to witness, 
but did not. Neptune was likewise, at the same time, visible 
by telescopic aid. 

James H. Luscomb, a youth of the age of fifteen, while driving 
a cow across Long Beach, 19 February, fastened one end of a 
rope around her neck and the other end around his own body. 
The cow suddenly turned and rushed back toward Little Nahant, 
dragging him three quarters of a mile and killing him. His 
skull was fractured and his back broken in two places. 

Goold Brown, aged 65, died at his residence on North Com- 
mon street, March 31, after an illness of nine days. He early 
directed his attention to studies connected with the science of 
language and became widely known as a grammarian. Many 
years ago he published a grammar which was extensively intro- 
duced into the schools of the United States. And he taught a 
seminary in New York city, long and acceptably. His last and 
great work, which was completed but a short time before his 
L2* 29 



450 ANNALS OF LYNN— 1857. 

death, was entitled the Grammar of English Grammars. He 
was a native of Providence, R. I., and a descendant of the 
founder of Brown University ; was a member of the Society of 
Friends and a much respected citizen. He left a widow and 
two adopted daughters. 

Haddock appeared in great numbers, at times, during the 
early part of the year. On the thirteenth of March, about one 
hundred of the Swampscot fishermen, in |welve boats, caught, 
in some six hours, IGO.OOO pounds of fish, almost entirely had- 
dock. 

Fisher Kingsbury, a respectable citizen of Saugus, aged 70, 
was instantly killed* on the Saugus Branch Rail-road, at Maiden, 
17 March. Both his legs were cut ofi", and he was otherwise 
injured, by a passing train. 

A number of respectable shoe manufacturers early this year 
joined in forming a board of trade. It was thought that bene- 
fits would accrue from the association, particularly through the 
adoption of rules regarding credit to customers and for the 
security of greater uniformity in the trade generally. But all 
the good that at first seemed promised was not realized, owing 
perhaps in a great measure to the diversity of interests and the 
unwillingness of some to yield to any regulation that might 
appear to restrain the largest freedom in trade. The associa- 
tion did not long continue in active operation. 

Trawl-fishing began to be practised by some of the Swamps- 
cot fishermen this year. 

A team load of goods, while passing over Long Beach, from 
Nahant, May 6, took fire, and was damaged to the amount of 
sixty dollars. 

On the evening of May 26, the shoe manufactory of Albert B. 
Ingalls, on Union street, was burned, with a considerable amount 
of stock. 

John E. Gowan, a native of Lynn, arrived at Sebastopol, 
Russia, June 3, to undertake the raising of the ships sunk in 
that harbor, during the Crimean war, under a contract with the 
Russian government. His enterprise was successful, and honors 
were bestowed upon him. 

The barn of Captain Fuller, in Humfrey street, Swampscot, 
was burned, June 13. The fire was set by two little boys who 
were playing with matches, in the barn. One of the boys, a son 
of J. A. Knowlton, aged four and a half years, was burned to 
death. 

The color of Egg Rock light was changed from white to red, 
June 15. . 

On Sunday morning, 21 June a dwelling-house in process of 
completion for Mrs. Raddin, widow of George W. Raddin, near 
the Saugus line, was burned. Loss, about $1,200. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1857. 451 

Widow Mary Wiggin, died June 20, aged 95 — the oldest 
person in Lynn, at tlie time. 

Independence was celebrated in Lynn, this year. A long 
procession marched through the streets, consisting of a caval- 
cade in fancy costumes, fire companies, bands of music, and 
numerous carriages, beautifully decorated, and filled with school 
children, bearing mottos, flags, and other insignia. An enter- 
tainment was provided, on the Common, for the children, la 
tlie evening there was a display of fireworks. It was called a 
juvenile temperance celebration. 

At Swampscot, July 4, Henry Scales and John Draper were 
seriously injured while firing a salute. Scales was badly wound- 
ed in the bowels, and had an arm broken ; and he soon after 
died, at the Massachusetts Hospital. Draper had an arm broken, 
an eye destroyed, and was otherwise injured. He was also 
taken to the hos-pital, and in about two months died of lockjaw. 

On the 15th of July, a pleasure party from Nahant, while 
fishing, captured a shark twelve feet in "length and weighing 
nearly twelve hundred pounds. 

Much excitement took place this summer, in many places, 
concerning the discovery of pearls in fresh water muscles and 
clams. Many small ones were found in shell fish taken from the 
Floating Bridge and Flax ponds, in Lynn, but not enough to 
rerider the search more profitable than regular labor. It was 
quite amusing occasionally to observe some venerable and de- 
mure citizen, who never in his life had been guilty of imagining 
that there was such a thing as amusement in the world, wending 
his way toward the ponds, and fancying his real object entirely 
concealed by the rod and line, and other sporting gear with 
which he had so cunningly encumbered himself. 

The African Methodist meeting-house, on Hacker street, was 
dedicated on the 1st of August. 

On the 14th of August, at about one o'clock, in the afternoon, 
while the thermometer was standing at ninety-eight degrees, in 
the shade, an interesting little child of five years, a daughter 
of Nicholas Mailey, living on Green street, who was playing in 
the garden, was sun-struck, and died the next day. 

On Tuesday, the 8th of September, the Fifth Regiment of 
Infantry, Col. Rogers, went into camp, at Nahant, remaining till 
Thursday. The weather was fine, and the attendance of spec- 
tators large. 

The Franklin Trotting Park, chiefly in Saugus, was laid out 
this year. 

A small comet was visible, to the naked eye, in September, in 
constellation Bootes. 

The different fire engine companies of Lynn had a grand trial 
of power, on the Common, on Saturday afternoon, September 



452 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1858. 

26. A great multitude assembled, and much good-natured rival- 
ry prevailed. Money prizes were contended for, the highest 
being twenty-five dollars. 

Blue fish were very plenty off our shores in the early part 
of autumn. They are great enemies to the menhaden ; and for 
several days such a war raged that the beaches were strewn 
with dead fish, chiefly of the latter species. Mr. Lewis, the 
^istorian, said that in two tides, he picked up nine bushels, and 
Duried them in his garden, for manure. 

The Congregational meeting-house in Lynnfield, south village, 
was dedicated November 11. 

Great financial embarrassment prevailed throughout the coun- 
try this 3'e^r and affected all classes. In Lynn there was a larger 
amount of suffering among the poor, than had been known for a 
long period. Numbers were out of employment, and many of 
the necessaries of life were dear. Public meetings were held, 
in the fall and winter, to devise means for the relief of the des- 
titute. Many benevolent hearts were stirred, and individuals 
of means contributed liberally ; and on the whole the cloud 
passed away with less distress and disaster than might reasonably 
have been anticipated. Very few business men failed, and not 
many of the poor suffered long. 

The boundary line between Lynnfield and North Reading 
was changed this year. 

The number of marriages in Lynn during this year was 209. 

1858. 

The first Congregational Methodist meeting-house, on Ches- 
nut street, near Broad, was dedicated on the 1st of January. 
It afterward became the property of the Calvinistic Society 
known as the Chesnut street Congregational Society. 

The first vessel ever built at Nahaut was a schooner of sixteen 
tons. She was built by J. and B. Johnson, and launched on the 
11th of February. 

Joseph E. Watts, of Marblehead, froze to death on the Eastern 
Rail-road track, near Oak Island, on the night of the 16th of 
Februar3\ 

On the morning of February 19, the rosin oil factory, near 
the Lynn Common Depot was destroyed by fire. The building 
was of brick, and the loss of that, together with the stock, amout- 
ed to $6,000. On the evening of the same day a barn, belong- 
ing to Oliver Ramsdell, in Gravesend village, was burned. 

The " Lynn Buck," so called, walked a plank, at Lowell, in 
February, a hundred and five consecutive hours and forty-four 
minutes, without sleep, and with but twenty-nine minutes' rest. 
A strict watch was kept on him. 

Joseph L. Hill, aged 20, while at Swampscot, gunning, on the 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1858. 453 

afternoon of March 3, was instantly killed by the accidental dis- 
charge of a fowling piece. 

The sun-dial, on the Common, was set in April. The granite 
pillar was furnished by the city, and the instrument was pro- 
cured by private subscription and adjusted by Cyrus M. Tracy. 

Telegraphic communication between Lynn and Boston was 
commenced on the 4th of May, 

On the 5th of June, two small boys, while fishing, fell into 
the basin above Scott's woolen factory, in Saugus, and were 
drowned. 

On the afternoon of June 8, the schooner Prairie Flower, Capt. 
Brown, left Salem for Boston, with a party on board. When 
oflf Nahant, she suddenly capsized and seven were drowned. 

Davis's barn, in Saugus, was struck by lighting, during a show- 
er, June 20. 

The Eighth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia para- 
ded in Lynn, on the 23d of June, in compliment to Col. Coffin. 
Eight fine companies of infantry were present, and many guests 
of dignity ; among them Gov. Banks. Dinner was served in a 
spacious tent, and some five hundred partook. This was the 
celebrated '' Eighth " that gained such plaudits in the early 
stages of the war of the Great Rebellion. 

The month of July was found, by observation, to be the cold- 
est that had occurred for fourteen years. 

On the afternoon of the 6th of August, a barn in Swampscot, 
belonging to Jonathan F. Phillips, was struck by lightning and 
burned, with fifty tons of hay. The well-known trotting mare 
Lady Lawrence, valued at a thousand dollars, being in the barn, 
was killed by the lightning. 

On the evening of the 14th of August the barn of Jacob Jack- 
son, on Essex street, was burned, with sixteen tons of hay. One 
cow perished, and another was so badly burned that it was 
necessary to kill her. 

There was an impromptu "cable celebration" in Lynn, on 
the 17th of August — a firing of guns, waving of flags, and divers 
similar demonstrations — on the occasion of the transmission of 
Queen Victoria's message to President Buchanan through the 
Atlantic cable, the instrument of high hopes that were to be 
disappointed. At Federal Square, in the evening, there was 
quite a display. 

During a heavy shower, on the afternoon of September 11, 
two schooners, lying at the west part of the town, were struck 
by lightning. The whole length of the foremast of one was 
splintered. The other was not much damaged. 

A splendid comet appeared in the autumn of this year. It 
was one of the most striking and beautiful celestial objects ever 
witnessed. For many evenings it descended in the northwest 




454 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1858' 

with its immense tail curving toward the north. The tail was 
determined to be, on Oct. 10, fifty-one millions of miles in length ; 
and to the observer it appeared clearly delineated for a length 
equal to something more than half the distance from the horizon 
to the zenith. On the 13th 
of September it was a hun- 
dred and twenty-two mil- 
lions of miles from the 
earth ; and on its nearest 
approach it was fifty-two 
millions of miles distant. 
It is known as the comet 
of Donati. A faithful rep- 
resentation of this beauti- comet op 1858. 
ful wanderer is here given. 

The meeting-house of the Second Baptist Society, on High 
street, was dedicated on the 7th of October. 

On Thursday, the 13th of October, the completion of the elec- 
tric telegraph to Swampscot was celebrated. Flags were dis- 
played and guns fired at morning, noon, and night. 

John B. Alley was elected, November 2d, Representative to 
the United States Congress, from this district. He was the first 
Lynn man, who received the honor of a seat in that august 
assemblage. 

The Catholic Cemetery, was consecrated on Thursday, the 
4th of November, by Bishop Fitzpatrick, assisted by six other 
clergymen. On account of the violence of the storm the ser- 
vices were chiefly held at the church, where the rite of con- 
•firmation was administered to about two hundred persons. The 
cemetery contains eiglit acres. 

The tide rose to such a height on the 23d of November that 
the Lynn and Saugus marshes were so deeply submerged as to 
occasion detention of the rail-road trains. All the trains were 
for a time forced to run over the Saugus Branch. 

Benjamin Luscomb, aged 46, while examining his fowling 
piece, preparatory to going on a gunning excursion the next 
morning was instantly killed by the explosion of a charge, on 
Sunday evening, December 12. No't supposing the piece to 
be loaded he had taken the barrel from the stock and was 
blowing in it, near a lighted lamp. 

There were landed in Lynn, during the year, 5.950.000 feet 
of lumber; 16.034 tons of coal; 5.820 cords of wood; 5.877 
casks of lime and cement; and 79.600 bushels of grain. The 
number of vessels bringing the same, was 337. What was 
landed on the Saugus side of the river is not included in the 
statement. And it should be borne in mind that Lynn has no 
back country to look to her for supplies. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1859. 455 

_ Cyrus M. Tracy this year published an octavo pamphlet of 
eighty-eight pages, entitled " Studies of the Essex Flora : a 
Complete Enumeration of all the Plants found growing naturally 
within the limits of Lynn, Mass., and the Towns adjoining, ar- 
ranged according to the Natural System, with copious Notes 
as to Localities and habits." The title fully expresses the char- 
acter of the work, and Mr. Tracy performed his task in a very 
creditable manner. As it will be interesting to those who 
occupy this soil in the far future, when population and art have 
driven nature from her present footholds, to know what forest 
trees grew and wild. flowers bloomed where then will bo busy 
streets, this modest work will be valued long after many more 
pretentious things are forgotten. 

There was very little cold or tempestuous weather, in the 
winter of 1858-9, before the middle of February. The evenings 
of January, as regarded temperature, were generally more like 
those of April, than any other season. The cumulous clouds, 
on several occasions, like immense fleeces of wool, rose to a 
great height, and in the moonlight made a very beautiful appear- 
ance. After the colder weather set in, one of the chief amuse- 
ments, not only of the school boys but the school girls and not 
only of the young, but of the mature, of both sexes, was skating. 
On moonlight evenings, the ponds were vocal with the merry 
voices of those engaged in the exhilarating recreation. 

18 5 9. 

Judson J. Hutchinson died, January 11, age 38. He was one 
of the favorite band of singers known as the Hutchinson 
brothers. He committed suicide, by hanging, at the wooden 
dwelling on the west of the stone cottage, at High Rock. The 
act was no doubt done while he was laboring under mental 
aberration. For several years he had at times been insane, and 
his mind occasionally seemed to incline to self-destruction. Many 
months before the melancholy event took place, he very pleas- 
antly and as was supposed jocosely assured the writer that 
nothing but lack of courage had for a long time prevented his 
destroying his life. He was an enthusiast, and possessed many 
eccentricities in manners and modes of tliought; but he was 
genial in disposition, affable in manners, intelligent, and much 
beloved. He was a spiritualist, and could see no evil in taking 
the abrupt road that he did to join his friends in the spirit land. 

There was a "Calico Ball" at the Sagamore House, on 
Wednesday evening, January 19. All the ladies appeared in 
calico dresses, which at that time were the cheapest style of 
dress. A liundred couples were present. The prize of a gold 
bracelet was awarded to the lady who in the judgment of a 
committee was arrayed in the most neat and becoming manner, 



456 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1859. 

personal charms also being taken into account — and Miss 
Nellie Clapp was the fair winner of the prize. It was a very 
pleasant gathering ; and the prevalence of silks and satins could 
not have added to its attractiveness. 

Early on the morning of the 21st of January, the commodious 
grammar school-house, in Woodend, with its contents, was 
totally destroyed by fire. The building was valued at $6,000, 
and was built in 1851. 

On Wednesday night, February 2, during a violent storm, the 
Vernon, a British bark of 265 tons, bound from Messina for Bos- 
ton, with a cargo chiefly of fruit, was driven ashore on Long 
Beach. The wind was very high and the sea in terrific commo- 
tion ; but by great courage and the skillful management of a 
life boat all the crew were saved. Most of the cargo was also 
saved. At low tide the vessel was left almost out of water ; 
but on Sunday morning, 13 February, she was got off" and towed 
to Boston, in a crippled condition, A spirited lithographic print, 
illustrating the scene at the wreck, was soon after published. 

There was a total eclipse of the moon early on the morning 
of February 17. The sky being very clear, an unusually strik- 
ing eff"ect was produced. 

On Friday morning, February 25, the tin ware and stove store 
of Brawn and Morrill, on Broad street, near Newhall, was 
burned. Loss $3,000. 

A large hump-back whale was several times seen near the 
Swampscot shore in the latter part of February. 

The New England Mechanic, a weekly newspaper, of good 
size, was commenced on the 19th of March, by Alonzo G. Dra- 
per as an advocate for the interests of the journeymen shoe- 
makers. 

The New England Conference of the Methodist Church com- 
menced its annual session in Lynn, on Wednesday, April 6, 
Bishop Ames presiding. 

On Saturday night, 28 May, the Catholic church, on Ash 
street, was burned, and one or two small buildings standing 
near, were considerably damaged. The value of the church 
property destroyed was $6,500. 

William F. Mills and Charles A. Forbes, while on a pleasure 
sail some two miles outside of Egg Rock, on Sunday, May 29, 
were overtaken by a squall which overset the boat. Mills was 
drowned and Forbes was taken up, in an insensible condition, 
by a passing schooner, and carried to Boston. 

A man ran round Lynn Common on the evening of June 3, 
on a wager, in two minutes and three quarters. 

On the nights of the 4th and 5th of June there were severe 
frosts. 

Independence was celebrated in Lynn, in a very pleasant 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1859. 457 

manner. A long procession, consisting of military and fire 
companies, city officials and other dignitaries, with numerous 
decorated carriages containing the pupils of the public schools, 
moved through the principal streets, accompanied by bands of 
music. A collation was prepared on the Common, and short 
addresses were made by the Mayor and others. In the evening 
there was a display of fireworks. The day was also celebrated 
at Swampscot. 

On Tuesda}^, July 19, Mr. Fenno went out from Swampscot, 
in a boat, to fish ; subsequently the boat was found drifting and 
Mr. Fenno was missing, though his hat remained in the boat. 
On the 28th, his body was found floating a short distance from 
the Ocean House. 

A grand regatta took place at Nahant, on the 22d of July, 
The prize contended for was an elegant silver pitcher. 

On Sunday evening, July 31, a fire occurred in Healey's Ar- 
cade, at the west end of the Common, damaging the same to 
the amount of some $2,000. The stocks in the stores were 
likewise considerably damaged. 

A horse mackerel was taken ofi^ Bass Point, Nahant, on the 
3d of August, measuring between nine and ten feet in length 
and six feet in girth, and weighing six hundred and fourteen 
pounds. 

On the afternoon of August 12, as a train was passing on the 
Eastern Rail-road, a few rods east of the Swampscot depot, it 
ran into a herd of cows which were feeding on the track. The 
engine, tender, and a baggage car were thrown from the track, 
down an embankment, and several of the cows were killed. 

There was a brilliant display of the northern lights, on Sun- 
day evening, August 28. The whole heavens were overspread. 

Charles Frost was run over by a fire engine, in Market street, 
on the evening of August 31, and instantly killed, one of the 
wheels passing over his head. • 

• In the early part of September, some twenty spots were 
observed on the surface of the sun, distributed in clusters. 

In September, a lady living in Lynn, feeling a prickling sensa- 
tion in her heel, examined and found protruding a needle, which 
from certain circumstances she was convinced was one that she 
ran into her foot eleven years before. In all that time it had 
not proved troublesome ; and when extracted was as bright as 
when new. 

On the morning of September 2, the heavens were tinged 
by an aurora of a deep red hue. In the southwest it appeared 
like the reflection of a conflagration. 

The engine house, corner of Ash and Elm streets, was burned, 
together with nine hundred feet of hose, the hose carriage, and 
other property, on the night of Sunday, October 2. 
M2 



458 ANNALS OF LTNN— 1860. 

Two barns on the Hood Farm, Water Hill, were destroyed 
by fire on the morning of November 10, together with fifty tons 
of hay, and a large quantity of vegetables. And on the night 
of the same day, the barn of Daniel Fairchild, on Boston street, 
was burned, three horses perishing in the flames. 

A large barn, belonging to John Mansfield, in the south village 
of Lynnfield, was burned on the 18th of November. Two yoke 
of oxen and two horses perished in the fire. 

On Sunday evening, November 20, the Union street Metho- 
dist meeting-house was totally destroyed by fire. A_ Sunday 
school concert was being held in the building at the time, and 
some five hundred persons, a large portion -of whom were chil- 
dren, were in attendance ; l3ut all safely retired. The loss was 
about S8.000. The bell, organ, clock, and part of the Sunday 
school library were lost. 

The church bells were tolled in Lynn, at sunrise, noon, and 
sunset, on Friday, December 2, on account of the execution of 
John Brown, at Charlestown, Va., on the charge of treason, 
growing out of an armed attempt to free slaves. 

So many fires had in recent years occurred in the woods, 
destroying such quantities of wood which had been prepared 
for fuel, as well as that standing, that a serious depreciation in 
the value of wood land seemed likely to ensue. Several large 
proprietors, awakening to the necessity of some action, made a 
move for the protection of their interests. Their direct eff'orts, 
perhaps, secured no conspicuous result; but by arousing atten- 
tion and operating on public sentiment some good was etfected. 
Rewards have been offered by the authorities, from time to 
time, for the detection of rogues setting such fires. In the 
spring, when the earth has become dry, and before the new 
verdure has put forth, the greatest danger exists ; and many a 
boy, by carelessly throwing down a lighted match has been the 
instrument of great mischief; to say nothing of those who are 
so abandoned as to wantonly destroy the property of others. 
The fact that the fires most frequently occur on Sunday is sig- 
nificant. 

18 6 0. 

■ On the afternoon of January 6, three young men walked 
across the harbor, on the ice, from near the south end of Com- 
mercial street, to Bass Point, Nahant. No one had before so 
crossed at a point so far out, for some twenty years. 

The brick school house, in Woodend, which was built to 
supply the place of the wooden structure destroyed by fire, on 
the 21st of January, 1859, was dedicated on the 8th of February. 

The Lynnfield Agricultural Library Association was founded 
on the 11th of February. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1860. 459 

A great Shoemakers' Strike commenced in Lynn, in February. 
No occurrence of the kind in this part of the country perhaps 
ever before created such a sensation. Processions of workmen 
paraded the streets, day after day, with music and banners. 
Large delegations of operatives from other places joined. And 
in several instances — on one occasion during a snow storm — 
large bodies of females appeared in the ranks ; for the shoebind- 
ers were also on a strike. On the 16th of March, a really im- 
posing spectacle was presented. Several military and fire 
companies belonging to Lynn and other places, numerous de- 
tachments of strikers from neighboring towns, and hundreds 
of women, formed in grand procession with the Lynn strikers 
and marched through the streets with bands of music, flags, and 
banners with devices. They moved in as close order as is 
common with such bodies, and the procession was something 
more than half a mile in length, and numbered, at different 
points, from three thousand to five thousand individuals. The 
day was very pleasant, and the demonstration passed off in an 
orderly manner. In the early part of the strike there was a 
good deal of excitement; and the city authorities, not deeming 
themselves sufficient for the emergency, sent to Boston for a 
detachment of police officers and took means promptly to secure 
other support from abroad should necessity require. After 
continuing about seven weeks, the great ferment quietly sub- 
sided. There was very little violence — a wonderfully small 
amount, considering the magnitude of the interests supposed to 
be at stake, and the energy with which the war of words was 
kept up. The object of the strikers was the same that is com- 
mon in all such movements ; namely, the obtaining of more 
adequate remuneration for labor; for it was alleged that at the 
current rates very few found it possible to obtain a decent 
livelihood. On the other hand, the manufacturers maintained 
that under existing circumstances, it was not in their power to 
pay higher prices. There was probably a misconception of 
facts on both sides. The whole trade had, in truth, through 
the instrumentality of some who had made heedless haste to 
be rich, and others, who had operated in waj's positively dis- 
honest, been brought into an unhealthy condition, a condition 
where it was necessary that some remedy should be applied. 
But whether a resort to such means as a general strike was the 
most expedient remains problematical. Yet the result did not 
seem to be mischievous. The energetic discussions that took 
place opened the way for a better understanding. Many facts 
were brought to light, useful to employers and employed. The 
suspension of labor prevented the accumulation of large stocks 
on the hands of the manufacturers, which stocks, no doubt, 
would in many cases have been disposed of, on credit, to south- 



460 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1860 

ern dealers, who, judging from the experience of some Lynn 
people, about that time, touching southern integrity, would not 
have been over-anxious that the spirit of rebellion should be 
curbed till they had time to discharge their obligations. Though 
perhaps no definite and conspicuous result of this famous Strike 
could be shown ; yet it is far from certain that it was not bene- 
ficial. Each party saw more clearly the strength and weakness, 
the wants and difficulties, of the other, and the friends of justice, 
on both sides, had the means furnished for a more intelligible 
view. The whole country seemed to have their eyes momenta- 
rily turned on Lynn, and through the daily journals and illustra- 
ted weeklies, her travail was magnified to an extent far beyond 
what was dreamed of in her own borders. 

On Sunday morning, February 19, Dr. Ezekiel P. Eastman 
died, aged 42. He had practised in Lynn for a number of years, 
was a skillful physician, and possessed attractive manners. 

The Mechanics' Steam Mill, on Broad street, near the foot of 
Market, was burned on the evening of March 12, together with 
one or two other frame buildings, occupied for mechanical 
purposes. Loss, about $8,000. 

John Wlialley, a partially deaf man, was killed on the rail-road 
track, near Market street, being struck by a locomotive, on 
the 23d of March. 

The Third Baptist Society in Lynn, was formed this year; 
and their meeting-house, near Dye House village, was dedicated 
on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 16. 

There was an uncommon drought during the spring of this 
year. The first rain for forty-one days fell on the 19th of May. 
Vegetation, however, did not materially suffer, the dews being 
heavy and the sun not in its summer position. 

The Universalist meeting-house in the centre village of Sau- 
gus was dedicated on Thursday, the 24th of May. The Univer- 
salists had succeeded to the first Calvinistic church property, 
and having disposed of the old meeting-house, which stood in 
the Square, and which was built in 1738, erected their new 
edifice. The ancient house was steepleless, and certainly not a 
very elegant specimen of architecture; but its history is interest- 
ing. It was there that the celebrated Parson Roby preached, so 
many years. The spot where it stood was purchased by the 
town to be retained as a public ground. 

St. Andrew's Episcopal Chapel, in the ancient Gothic style, 
was built this year, on Ontario Court, and first opened for service 
on Sunday, June 10. 

Rev. Sumner Ellis was installed pastor of the First Universal- 
ist Society, in Lynn, on the afternoon of June 13. 

A comet was just visible to the naked eye, in June. Its tail 
was about four degrees in length, and pointed upward. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1860. 461 

On Friday, June 29, a severe thunder storm occurred. It 
commenced about six o'clock in the afternoon, and continued 
till nine, with scarcely an intermission. There was some hail ; 
the wind blew with great fury, and torrents of rain fell. The 
house of Stephen Lewis, on Fayette street, was struck by the 
lightning", and slightly damaged. The meeting-house in the 
south village of Lynnfield was also struck. 

The Methodist meeting-house, in Saugus, east village, was 
entered on Sunday night, July 8, and robbed of a hundred yards 
of carpeting. This was the second time that the carpets of this 
house were stolen. 

There was a muster of the fire companies of Essex county, at 
Lynnfield, on the 18th of July, Many firemen from Lynn at- 
tended, though the authorities would not suffer the engines to 
be carried. 

An extraordinary meteor appeared in the heavens at about 
ten o'clock, on the evening of July 20, It moved slowly, in a 
southeasterly direction, leaving a luminous train which was 
visible for about a minute. The meteor resembled two bright 
balls as large as full moons, 

A turtle, weighing thirty-five pounds and measuring, on the 
shell, thirteen by seventeen inches, was taken from Stacey's 
brook, in Woodend, in July. 

The jewelry store of George H. Moore, on Market street, 
was robbed at noon, August 16, of some twenty watches and 
other articles, of the value of about $400. 

On the afternoon of August 8, the barn of Henry Clay, in 
Lynnfield, was struck by lightning, set on fire, and entirely 
consumed, together with a large quantity of hay and other farm 
property. 

John Denier, a tight rope performer, walked upon a single 
rope a distance of fourteen hundred feet, at Nahant, on the 
afternoon of August 16, The rope was stretched high above 
Canoe Beach, in the rear of Nahant House, A very large con- 
course witnessed the dangerous feat. And on the afternoon of 
the 27th, he walked up a rope one inch and three quarters in 
diameter, stretched from the top of a three story building on 
the southwest side of Exchange street, in Lynn, to a derrick 
erected near the entrance of Mount Vernon street, and per- 
formed sundry astonishing feats — among them hanging by one 
foot, head downward — while on the rope, many feet above the 
heads of the crowd of spectators. 

On the 22d of August a swing-tail shark was captured in a 
net, by Chandler Lewis, of Swampscot, a short distance from 
the beach. He measured ten feet in length. This species is 
very rare on our coast. 

The new light house on Minot's Ledge was lighted for the first 
M2* 



462 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1860. 

time on the night of Wednesday, August 22. The light, how- 
ever, was only shown toward the shore, it being merely an 
experimental lighting. It began to be regularly lighted on the 
night of Thursday, November 15. 

A sun-fish was caught near Egg Rock, in August, weighing 
about two hundred and fifty pounds. 

A small encampment of the Penobscot tribe of Indians erected 
their wigwams on Phillips's Point, Swampscot, in the latter part 
of the summer, and pursued their trade of basket making. 

On the night of the 7th of September, a fire occurred on 
Beach street, at the wood and coal wharf of Breed and Thing. 
A heap of about three thousand tons of coal took fire and con- 
tinued to burn two days, notwithstanding the efforts of the fir9 
department to extinguish it, aided by a steam fire engine from 
Salem. The coal and hay sheds, were destroyed, and a large 
portion of the coal and wood either burned or thrown overboard. 
Loss, about $9,000. 

Early on Sunday morning, September 16, the baking estab- 
lishment of Nathaniel Holder, on Pine Hill, was burned. Four 
valuable horses perished in the flames. Loss, about $4,000. 

The carpenter shop of N. P. Boynton, on Broad street, was 
destroyed by fire, September 30. Loss, about $1,200. 

The planet Venus was distinctly visible to the naked eye, at 
about eleven o'clock on the forenoon of October 11. The sua 
was shining brightly. 

The Lynn post office was broken into on Sunday night, Octo- 
ber 14, and robbed of a quantity of postage stamps, a small 
amount of money, and a large number of letters. Many of the 
letters were afterward found, broken open and rifled, some near 
the High School house, and some at Oak Island. 

A slight shock of an earthquake was felt on the morning of 
Oct. 17. There was a rumbling sound and the earth trembled. 

The Prince of Wales passed through Lynn at about ten o'clock 
in the forenoon of Saturday, October 20. The special train in 
which the august youth journeyed, made a slight pause at the 
Central Station, and he stepped upon the platform of his car, 
thus vouchsafing to some of the anxious crowd gathered in the 
Square a glimpse of his royal person. Some preparations had 
been made to receive him, and divers of the city officials were 
present, but he did not appear to appreciate the honor. 

The Republicans had a grand torch-light procession on the 
evening of the 30th of October. Music, illuminations, fireworks, 
and bonfires abounded. Brilliant lights were placed upon the 
stone posts that surround the Common, making a fine show. 
The procession numbered from twelve to fifteen hundred. The 
demonstration was in favor of Mr. Lincoln then a candidate for 
the presidencv. The other parties also had their demonstrations. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1860. 463 

On Saturday night, November 3, the severest storm of the 
season occurred. There was a strong easterly wind and a high 
sea. The Gazelle, a small vessel belonging to Gloucester, broke 
from her moorings at Swampscot and was driven ashore at 
King's Beach, where she went to pieces. 

On the 6th of November, Micajah Burrill of Woodend, aged 
96, was at the polls and voted for Mr. Lincoln for president. 
He voted for Washington at the time of his election. 

Captain Ammi Smith, of Lynn, was master of the ship Oliver 

Putnam, which foundered at sea, this year. After the ship 

.went down the men remained eleven days in an open boat, sub- 

jsubsisting on two biscuits and a pint of water a day. A Dutch 

bark, bound for Rotterdam, finally picked them ug and carried 

them to St. Helena. 

Early on the morning of Saturday, November 24, a severe 
southeasterly gale set in, which was particularly disastrous to 
the shipping at Swampscot ; more so than any other that had 
occurred for many years. 

In the latter part of November, Zachariah Phillips, of Lynn, 
during four days' fishing from his dory, in the bay, experienced 
in a singular manner the vicissitudes of a fisherman's luck. His 
first day's catch sold for 25 cents. That of one of the other 
days sold for $2L00. And taking the whole four days together 
he realized $46.50. The fish sold for three cents a pound, on 
the beach, and were chiefly cod. 

The cars began to run on the horse rail-road, through Lynn, 
on the 29th of November. 

Market street was lighted by gas, for the first time, on Friday 
evening, December 7. 

Cars commenced running over the Cliftondale horse rail-road, 
from East Saugus to Boston, December 26. 

The sessions of the Probate Court in Lynn were discontinued' 
this year. 

There was a very large crop of fruit this year; particularly 
of apples and pears; and the quality was superior. 

The fire department was called out fifty-six times duiting the 
year, seventeen of which were from false alarms. The whole 
loss by fire was about $32,000. 

By the census taken this year, Lynn was found to contain 
19.087 inhabitants; Lvnnfield, .866; Nahant, .380; Saugus, 
2.024; Swampscot, 1.530. 

The valuation of real estate in Lynn, this year, was $6,291,460; 
personal, $3.357.605 — total, $9,649,065. The rate of taxation, 
was $8.80 on $1,000. Number of ratable polls, 3.933. City 
debt, $107,600. By turning to date 1850, the increase of ten 
years may be determined. But it should be borne in mind that 
Nahant and Swampscot were set ofi" during the period. 



464 ANNALS OF LYNN — x861. 



1861. 

Friday, 4 January, was observed as a national fast, in view 
of the threatening aspect of public affairs. 

An extraordinary change in the weather took place during a 
few hours preceding sunrise, on Friday, the 8th of February. 
On Thursday the air was mild, the thermometer standing at 
forty-five degrees, at two o'clock in the afternoon. About that 
time a change commenced, the cold increasing rapidly, till Friday 
morning, when the thermometer stood at twenty-one degrees 
below zero. Thus, between two o'clock on Thursday afternoon 
and eight on Friday morning, the thermometer fell sixty-six 
degrees. 

On the night of 18 February, a barn, on Howard street, be- 
longing to James E. Barry, was burned. Two horses perished 
in the flames. 

A severe storm occurred on Saturday evening, 9 March. Con- 
siderable 'damage was done to the shipping at Swampscot. And 
again on the 22d of March there was a heavy blow, and while 
the sea was running high a vessel was discovered some two 
miles off the eastern point of Nahant, rolling heavily at anchor, 
with all her masts gone excepting a portion of the mizzen. She 
proved to be the bark Nonpareil, Capt. Flynn, from Palermo, for 
Boston. She was finally taken safely to Boston, by a steam 
tug. No lives were lost. 

A snow storm commenced 1 April, during which eighteen 
inches of snow fell. 

The brick Catholic Church, at the eastern end of South Con»- 
mon street, was built this year. It was the finest and most 
costly church edifice that had been built in the place. 

Fort Sumpter, in the harbor of Charleston, S. C, was attacked 
by the South Carolina forces on Friday, 12 April. And this 
was the commencement of the terrible civil war which will 
forever remain a marked point in American history. Presi- 
dent Lincoln immediately issued a proclamation calling out a 
portion of the militia of the several states. Lynn was instantly 
aroused to a high pitch of patriotic fervor. In five hours after 
the requisition arrived, two full companies were armed and 
ready for duty. And in the eleven o'clock train of the next 
forenoon — Tuesday, 16 April — they departed for the south, 
amid the cheers and sobs of the immense concourse who had 
gathered in Central Square. These two companies — the Lynn 
Light Infantry and Lynn City Guards — formed a part of the 
Eighth Regiment of Massachusetts troops, which became so 
celebrated in the early part of the war, for discipline, prompt- 
ness and heroism. These troops were called for three months' 
service. And just before their departure it was announced to 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 18G1. 



465 



them t]iat six hundred dollars had been contributed for each of 
the companies. The names of those who so promptly responded 
to their country's call, in the day of her peril, are worthy of re- 
membrance, and are here inserted. Others would have gone had 
there been time for equipment, as is shown by the terse des- 
patch sent to head quarters — " We have more men than guns — 
what shall we do ? " The names of such of the regrmental officers 
as belonged to Lynn, are also given. 

Timothy Munroe, Colonel. 

Edward W. Hinks, Lieutenant Colonel. 

Ephraim a. Ingalls, Quartermaster. 

Roland G. Usher, Paymaster. 

Bowman B. Breed, Surgeon. 

Warren Tapley, Assistant Surgeon. 

Horace E. 3Iunroe, Quartermaster Sergeant. 

Company D — Lynn Light hifantry. 
Greorge T. Newhall, Captain — Thomas H. Berry, First Lieutenaivt — El- 
bridge Z. Sauuderson, Second Lieutenant — diaries M. Merritt, Fourth Lieu- 
tenant -^William A. Fraser, Henry C. Burrill, William H. Merritt, and George 
E. Palmer, Sergeants — Daniel Raymond, Henry C. Conner, Henry H. Good- 
ridge, and Horatio E. Macomber, Corporals — James O. Clarrage, Musician. 



Alley, James D. 
Andrews, Oscar D. 
Atkinson, Charles O. 
Bailey, George W. 
Bartlett, Alonzo W. 
Bates, Lewis H. 
Berry, William H. 
Besse, Francis E. 
Carpenter, Henry A. 
Caswell, William 
Cilley, .John W. 
Clement, Oscar H 
Coe, John T. 
Curtis, George 
Dudley, Alonzo G. 
Elder, Josiah L. 
Emerton, William W. 
Fales, Charles 
Foss, William H. 
Foster, George W. 



PRIVATES. 

Foster, Samuel 
Foxcroft, George A. 
Foye, John 
Fraser, Joshua H. 
Hills, Edwin T. 
Hixon, E. Oswell 
Hoyt, Wheelwright 
Jones, James E. 
Keene, William H. 
Keith, Friend H. 
Kelley, James D. 
Kimball, Edwin H. 
Lambert, Daniel 
Lock, James 
Lougee, John E. 
jMartin, John M. 
Merrill, Arthur T. 
Merritt, George G. 
Mudgett, Isaac N. 



Nichols, John H. 
Nichols, N. A. 
Noonan, Daniel 
Oliver, Harrison 
Oliver, Stephen A. 
Patten, John B. 
Patten, Thomas P. 
Pierce, Levi M. 
Pousland, Thomas J. 
Reed, Samuel A. 
Remick, Samuel D. 
Sanborn, Joseph R. 
Smith, Frank M. 
Sweetser, Charles H. 
Tarr, John S. 
Trask, Israel A. 
Tuttle, Lyman M. 
Wentworth, Rufus O 
Whitney, J. A. P. 
Williams, J. Henry 



Newhall, Henry A. 
Company F — Lynn City Guards. 
James Hudson, jr., Captain — Edward A. Chandler, First Lieutenant — 

Henry Stone, Second Lieutenant — Matthias N. Snow, Third Lieutenant 

Hanson H. Pike, George Watts, George E. Stone, and Timothy Newton, 
Sergeants — Jtunes R. Downer, George Harris, Joseph W. Johnson, and 
Jeremiah Towlin, Corporals — Edward D. Clarrage, Musician. 



Alley, James E. 
Allev, Richard 
Bailey, William E. 
Barker, Patrick W. 
Baxter John B. 



PRIVATES. 

Black, James O. 
Boynton, Benjamin F. jr. 
Brown, Ezra W. 
Brown, James W. 
Brown, William B. 



Caldwell, William 
Campbell, George 
Chase, Charles H. 
Chase, John C. 
Ci-you, Thomas 

30 



466 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1861. 



Laborda, James S. 
Lake, Charles H. 
Luscomb, Murray 
Mahoney, Dennis 
Martin, Robert P. 
McDavitt, William S. 
Mead, Samuel 
Mellen, Andrew 
Millar, Andrew W. 
Moulton, Edward 
Moulton, James F. 
Murray, James W. 
Newton, William S. 
OiT, Charles 
Owen, Joseph 
Peabody, Benjamin W. 
Phillips, Daniel 
Pike, William J. 
Pratt, Daniel W. 
Rand, Benjamin 



Reed, Orson R. 
Reynolds, Andrew T. 
Reynolds, John W. 
Rhodes, Isaac N. 
Rowe, George W. 
Rowe, William B. 
Sargent, Albert 
Sargent, George W. 
Snow, Warren 
Sparks, Uriel 
Swan, George W. 
Sweetser, George W. 
Taylor, Henry 
Thompson, Samuel 
Tufts, William F. 
Tutt, Benjamin 
Webster, Samuel 
White, George H. 
Wilson, William B. 
Young, Hugh 



Dalton, Frank 
Davenport. Charles 
Davis, Henry S. 
Donelly, James E. 
Dougherty, James B. 
Edwards, George 
Estes, Jacob S. 
Flanders, Augustus B. 
Foster, John F. 
Gilbert, John 
Griffin, William H. 
Grover, Benjamin P. 
Harriden, Oscar 
Harris, Edward 
Hiller, Edward 
Hunnewell, Francis 
Ingalls, Abner 
Johnson, Nathaniel 
Kelley, Daniel 
Kimball, Josiah F. 
Kimball, Moses 

And many of the foreg:oing were soon in higher positions than 
they at first occupied. But with their departure the zeal of the 
citizens by no means subsided. Meetings were held, funds were 
subscribed by individuals and appropriated by the city govern- 
ment, new companies were raised, and every thing was done 
that could be expected of a loyal and patriotic people. A mass 
meeting was held at Lyceum Hall, on the afternoon of Monday, 
22 April, at which a considerable sum was subscribed for the 
benefit of volunteers, stirring speeches were made, and divers 
animating pieces played by a band of music. The following 
preamble and resolutions were passed by acclamation. 

Whereas, The country has been plunged into civil war, by the rash, tritor- 
ous, and unjustifiable action of the leaders in the so-called Confederate States; 
therefore, 

1. Resolved, Tliat we, in the hour of |)eril to the nation, to free institutions, 
to life, liberty, and social well-being, unite as one man to uphold our govern- 
ment, and to defend our country. 

2. Resolved, That as our fathers pledged to each other their "lives, their 
fortunes, and their sacred honor," to establish the institutions under which 
we have lived, so we now renew this pledge, to maintain those institutions, 
and to hand them down, intact, to our children. 

3. Resolved, That the present crisis has been forced upon us, lovers of 
peace and of the Union ; and that there is left for us nothing but to rally about 
the government, which has shown itself forbearing, and whose efforts for a 
peaceful settlement have been met with bravado, insolent contempt, and war- 
like opposition. 

4. Resolved, That it is the duty of every citizen to stand ready for the 
performance of every work which the government requires at his hand, till 
tbe traitors shall desist from their unhallowed purpose, and peace be restored 
to our distracted land. 

5. Resolved, That Governor Andrew, General Schouler, and the civil and 
military authorities of the state, have acted in an able, prompt, and patriotic man- 
ner, in this trying crisis ; and that their efficient action is deserving of all praise. 



ANNALS OP LYNN — 1861. 467 



0. Resolved, That the action of our City Government, in making an appro- 
priation for the support of the families of our brave and devoted volunteers, 
meets the exigency of tlie hour, and receives our hearty approval. 

7. Resolved, That the prompt response of the Eighth Massachusetts Reg- 
iment, to which so many of our citizen soldiers are attached, together with the 
dispatch " We have more men than guns — what shall we do?" proves the 
loyalty of our citizens, and ins|)ires us with the belief that the glorious old flag 
shall not be trailed in the dust, nor be wrested, by traitor hands, from its right- 
ful guardians, an acknowledged majority of American citizens. 

Enlistments now went rapidly on. The whole community 
seemed fully awake to the demands of the calamitous exigency. 
The ladies applied themselves diligently in the preparation of 
clothing and other things necessary and convenient for the 
departed and the constantly departing soldiers. Flags were 
kept flying in every direction, and drums were beating at all 
hours. And those other places, the offspring of good old 
Lynn, which are named in the title-page of this work, manifested 
the same zealous and patriotic spirit. It would be an exceed- 
ingly agreeable task to give in these pages a circumstantial 
history of events here, as connected with the war, and to 
record the name of every one who went out from among us to 
battle for the honor of his country. But it will be at once 
seen that such a thing would be impossible. The most that can 
be done will be to note the more prominent occurrences. God 
grant that all who survive may have a reward here commensu- 
rate with their labors and sacrifices, and that all who perish 
may receive a reward in the better land. 

On the morning of May 4th, the grocery store of Robert 
Collins, corner of Franklin street and the Turnpike, was con- 
sumed by fire, with all its contents. The adjacent out buildings 
were also consumed, and the dwelling of Mr. Collins was some- 
what damaged. Loss, about $2,500. 

The ship Abselino, Capt. Ammi Smith, of Lynn, was captured 
by a rebel privateer, 20 May, while on her passage from Boston 
to New Orleans, with a cargo of ice. This was one of the first 
of such seizures in the war. The officers, crew, and vessel, 
were, however, soon released. 

On the first day of June, the Lynn horse cars began to run to 
Boston. 

On Sunday, 2 June, Julia, aged ten years, a daughter of John 
Fitzpatrick, an overseer in one of the Saugus woollen factories, 
died of the terrible disease of hydrophobia. She was slightly 
bitten by a small dog with which she was familiar ; but little or 
nothing was thought of it at the time. Six weeks after, while 
at school, she was taken with spasms and soon died, in great 
agony. 

The brick school-house, on the west side of Franklin street, 
was dedicated on Monday afternoon, 24 June. 



468 ANNALS OP LYNN— 1861. 

A great comet suddenly appeared in Jnly. It was first seen 
on l^uesday evening, the 2d, and was very bright. I was stand- 
ing on the slope of the hill, near Sadler's Rock, at dusk, con- 
versing with a friend. On looking up, as one or two of the 
brighter stars began to appear, he remarked, " Why, there is a 
strange looking star," As the darkness increased, the propor- 
tions of a magnificent comet became developed. On the follow- 
ing evening the celestial stranger made a still more imposing 
appearance. Its position was a very little west of north^and it 
was finely delineated, from the tail which spread out into a 
silvery light at the zenith, to the bright nucleus at the horizon. 
Observation determined that it was moving with extraordinary 
rapidity ; an4 it was soon beyond the vision of the unassisted 
eye. One remarkable fact about this comet is that its tail, which 
was upwards of ninety degrees in length, actually came in con- 
tact with the earth. In the report of the visiting committee of 
the Cambridge observatory to the overseers of the college — 
which report, by the way, was signed by our eminent townsman, 
William Mitchell, as chairman — it is stated that the comet was 
subjected to a rigorous examination and its path marked with 
great care, its position being determined at forty-nine periods. 
And the report adds that as soon as its real motion was ascer- 
tained, it became evident that its train had swept the earth; 
and subsequent observations, both in this country and Europe 
showed that only three days previous to its sudden apparition 
in our heavens a part of the train nuist have been in actual con- 
tact with the earth. It is 
an ancient superstition that 
comets portend dire calam- 
ities to mankind ; particu- 
larly wars. And that of 
1858 and this of 1861, com- 
ing so opportune for the 
terrible civil war, will be 
likely to confirm the appre- 
hensions of some unculti- Comet or 1861. 
vated minds. 

The Lynn soldiers who so promptly resptDnded to the call of 
the President, and on the 16th of April hastened southward, 
returned on the first of August, their three months terra of ser- 
vice having expired. And they had a very enthusiastic and 
gratifying public reception. The City appropriated $500, and 
individual liberality contributed a large additional sum, to make 
the occasion one of uncommon display. Not a man of the whole 
regiment had died during its absence. Col. Munroe had re- 
signed, 12 May, and returned home, and Lieut, Col. Hinks had 
succeeded him. The reception was quite imposing. There 




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ANNALS OP LYNN — 1861. 469 

was a large escort of military and fire companies, and public 
and private places were profusely decorated, business was sus- 
pended, and the large body of the population were in the streets. 
The procession was something more than an eighth of a mile in 
length, and moved through the principal neigiiborhoods, the 
bands playing, church bells ringing, and guns firing. At about 
seven o'clock a collation was had at Exchange Hall ; and when 
the hungry stomachs had been supplied the patriotic tongues 
were loosed. And the whole furnished a notable instance of 
the liberal bestowraent of well-earned honors. 

The Union street Methodist meeting-house (St. Paul's) was 
dedicated on Thursday afternoon, 1 August. 

On Thursday night, 12 September, the spacious building 
known as Nahant Hotel, was destroyed by fire. It was an 
immense structure of wood, with the exception of the small part 
built in 1819, which was of stone; was in some parts three and 
in others four stories in height ; was something more than four 
hundred feet in length, and contained three hundred rooms. It 
was sufficient for the accommodation of a thousand visitors at a 
time; six hundred could be seated together in the dining hall; 
magnetic telegraph wires connected it with Boston ; and it had 
every appliance of a first class public house. The conflagration 
made a striking display as seen from Lynn and the adjacent 
places. And it was observed from vessels a great distance 
at sea. 

In September the little green in Washington Square, at the 
junction of Nahant street and Broad, was enclosed by a neat 
iron railing, and otherwise improved. The ladies held a fair, on 
May-day, to raise funds to defray the expense. The cost was 
$550. 

An encampment was formed at Lynnfield, at which a number 
of regiments were drilled, preparatory to leaving for the seat 
of war. 

Thursday, 26 September, was observed as a national fast. 

In October, Miss Mitchell, whose astronomical observations 
and discoveries at Nantucket had made her name familiar to the 
scientific world, removed with her accomplished father, William 
Mitchell, to Lynn. Besides several smaller instruments, used 
at her former residence, she brought with her a beautiful equa- 
torial telescope, which she has since constantly applied to vari- 
ous original researches, the principal and perhaps the most 
important of which are observations on the phenomena of the 
double stars or binary systems. The telescope was the gift of 
a few friends of both sexes, and no pains were spared in its 
construction. It was made by Alvan Clark and Sons, of Cam- 
brigeport, and is unquestionably among their best productions. 
The telescope is furnished with all the appliances belonging to 
N2 



470 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1862. 

the largest class of instruments, measuring circles of right as- 
cension, and declination, has clock-work, and micrometer. It 
has six eye-pieces of powers from fifty to three hundred. The 
telescope and equatorial apparatus are connected to a heavy 
iron tripod resting on a firm piece of solid masonry, whose base 
is sufficiently below the surface of the ground to be secure 
from the effects of frost and the tremor of passing carriages in 
the street at a distance of two hundred feet. The observatory 
is a circular building of great simplicity, with an ordinary roof 
revolving by means of iron balls running in grooved circular 
plates, thus enabling a narrow scuttle in the roof to be turned 
to any part of the heavens. 

On Tuesday afternoon, 26 November, Phipps Munroe, a mas- 
ter carpenter, and much respected citizen, aged fifty-one, was 
instantly killed by a revolving shaft, at the morocco factory of 
Souther and Blaney, on Market steet. The shaft was making a 
hundred and eighty revolutions a minute, and it was supposed 
his clothing was caught, and he dashed against the beams, whixih 
were but about fourteen inches above the shaft. 

1862. 

On Saturday morning, 22 March, the dry goods store of S. J. 
Weinburg, on Market street, was a good deal damaged by fire. 

On Monday morning, 7 April, Sagamore Cottage, which had 
been the home of Mr. Lewis, for nearly twenty of the last years 
of his life, was partially burned. It was at the time occupied 
by Mrs. Lewis and her little boy of four years. They were 
aroused in time to make their escape, by a dog kept on the 
premises. Most of the movable property was saved. The 
building, though much damaged, was soon repaired. 

At Pranker's factory, in Saugus, 8 April, a steam copper cyl- 
inder, weighing about two hundred pounds and being a foot 
and a half in diameter and four feet in length, used for drying, 
suddenly burst, while revolving with great rapidity. Mr. Tobin, 
the man in charge, was thrown some ten feet and considerably 
injured. The force of the explosion was so great that several 
large windows were broken, and the iron frame that supported 
the cylinder was snapped to pieces, and thrown about with 
great violence. 

Capt. Henry Bancroft's barn, in Lynnfield, was burned early 
on Sunday morning, 4 May, together with his carriage-house 
and other out buildings. A horse and several cows, were 
burned. Loss, about $4,000. 

On Monday evening, 14 July, a large and enthusiastic war 
meeting was held at Lyceum Hall. And on the evening of 
Tuesday, 22 July, another was held on the Common. And on 
Saturdav, 26 July, still another was held on the Common. Sim- 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1862. 471 

ilar meetings were likewise held in August. The places of busi- 
ness were closed at two o'clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, 
26 August, and on each day for the remainder of the week, that 
the afternoons might be devoted to obtaining recruits. 

On the afternoon of 30 July, during a thunder storm, George 
L. Hanson of Portland street, was seated near a window, iii his 
house, when he was suddenly thrown a distance of nearly tea 
feet, receiving such a shock as rendered him apparently lifeless. 
His wife immediately closed his nostrils and breathed into his 
mouth ; other restorative means were applied, and he soon 
returned to consciousness. It was not known that the lightning 
struck any where in the vicinity. And Mr. Hanson neither saw 
lightning nor heard thunder. 

On Sunday afternoon, 31 August, an enthusiastic war meeting 
was held on the Common. Religious services were omitted at 
all the churches excepting the First Baptist, and the clergy 
very generally attended and took part in the meeting. The 
day was pleasant, and a very great crowd assembled, including 
a body of soldier}^. Stirring speeches were made, and national 
pieces sung and played by the military band. There was like- 
wise an interspersion of religious exercises. During the latter 
part of the evening, there was a large gathering in front of the 
City Hall. And the result of the movements of the day wa? 
the securing of a considerable number of enlistments. 

On Thursday, 4 September, a grand pic-nic party under the 
auspices of the Spiritualists, was held at Dungeon Rock. Some 
two thousand persons of both sexes and all ages were present. 
There was speaking, music, and dancing. Mediums were in 
attendance, and divers' revelations made. The day was pleas- 
ant, and the proceedings went forward with spirit. No more 
delightful or romantic place could be found for such a gathering. 
This was the first of a number of similar assemblages in that 
attractive locality. 

The 8th of October was tlie warmest October day since 1807, 
the thermometer reaching ninety degrees, in the shade. 

On Sunday afternoon, 19 October, the funerals of two de- 
ceased soldiers — John C. Dow and Solomon Martin — both 
victims of the battle of Antietam — took place; thgit of the first 
named from the Christian Chapel, on Silsbe street, and that of 
the last from the Second Universalist meeting-house. Thev 
were attended by a large concourse, including the principal 
city authorities. 

The house of William Cheever, in Saugus was burned on the 
night of 3 November. 

The Swampscot Library Association was formed this year. 

On the 5th of November, the bodies of two brothers — Charles 
J. Batchelder and George W. Batchelder. were buried from the 



472 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1863. 

» 

First Metliodist meeting-house. Both were in the service of 
their country. Charles, who was a lieutenant, died at New 
Orleans, of fever, and George, who was a captain, was killed at 
the battle of Antietam. There was a very large attendance, 
embracing the city authorities and a considerable body of mil- 
itary ; and the services were peculiarly impressive and affecting. 
This, and the other military funerals mentioned under this date 
were the first of a large number, which would be separately 
noticed did space permit. 

There was an extraordinary yield of fruit this year, in this 
vicinity, and it was more than usually excellent. 

During the autumn of this year, a Soldiers' Burial Lot was 
laid out in Pine Grove Cemetery. The City appropriated five 
hundred dollars for the object. The lot is on the corner of Lo- 
cust and Larch avenues, is square, contains three thousand and 
six hundred square feet, and is surrounded by a border of twelve 
feet, for trees, shrubs, and flowers. 

As evidence of the patriotism of some of our families, it may 
be mentioned that Otis Newhall, superintendent of Pine Grove 
Cemetery, and Edmund Waitt, of Strawberry avenue, each had 
five sons in the war, this year; and John Alley, 4th, had four. 

The most atrocious murder ever committed in Lynn was 
perpetrated early in the evening of 23 December. Nathan 
Breed, jr., an estimable citizen, aged thirty-eight, who kept a 
grocery store on Summer street, corner of Orchard Court, was 
killed by terrible blows from a small axe, inflicted chiefly on 
the head. The horrid deed was consummated in a most daring 
and merciless manner. He was in his store, and it was an hour 
when customers were especially liable to call. The murderer 
must have watched his opportunity, and done the deed with 
fearful expedition. The assault was made between six and 
seven o'clock, and Mr. Breed lingered till three in the morning. 
He had his senses, and declared that his murderer was a young 
man named Horace L. Davis, who lived in the neighborhood, 
and whose age was about seventeen. Davis was arrested and 
tried for the murder, but the jury could not agree on a verdict, 
being divided on the question of mental capacity ; but he sub- 
sequently pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter, and was 
sentenced to the state prison for twenty years. 

1863. 

Rev. Charles W. Biddle was installed pastor of the First Uni- 
versalist Society, on Thursday afternoon, 5 February. 

On the morning of 12 February, the Sash and Blind Factory, 
on Essex street, near the Swampscot line, was destroyed by fire, 

The little fishing schooner Flying Dart, of Swampscot, with a 
crew of twelve men, on the 25th of February brought in 14.000 



; ANNALS OF LYNN — 1863. 473 

pounds of fish, caugbt by them that day. The fish were readily 
sold at an average rate of two cents a pound. 

There was an interval of severe cold, near the middle of 
March. On the 14th, the thermometer reached twelve de- 
grees below zero. The winter had been quite open, hereabout, 
but it was judged to have been very severe at the north, from 
the number of arctic birds that visited us. Four large arctic 
owls were shot during one week, at Nahant and on the beaches, 
and several eagles appeared on the marshes. 

The Kerosine Oil Factory of Berry and Hawkes, on Hawkes's 
Hill, in East Saugus, was burned, 20 March. 

Capt. John B. Hubbard, of Gen. Weitzel's staff, was killed in 
battle at Port Hudson, in May. He was principal of the Lynn 
High School at the time of his enlistment. He was a sen of 
a former governor of Maine, a graduate 'of Bowdoin College, 
and highly esteemed, while here, as a teacher and a man. 

The large steam bakery of Thomas Austin and Company, on 
Water Hill, was burned on the morning of 29 May. 

The Boston and Lynn Horse Rail-road commenced running 
cars to Chelsea Beach, on the 1st of June. 

Extraordinary numbers of caterpillars appeared in the summer 
of this year. So numerous were they that in many instances 
trees had to be abandoned to their ravages. Canker worms 
were also very abundant and destructive. 

The barn of Nathan Breed, on Broad street, was burned, 
June 2, the fire being occasioned by attempts to destroy, by 
fire, the caterpillars on the fruit trees near by. 

Lieut. Col. Charles Redington Mudge was killed at the battle 
of Gettysburg, 3 July. He was the eldest son of E. R. Mudge, 
of Swampscot, and twent3^-three years of age ; Avas an officer 
of great promise, and at the time he was killed was in command 
of the regiment, gallantly leading on a charge. He graduated 
at Harvard, with the 1860 class. 

The church bells were rung, cannon fired, and bonfires lighted^ 
on the 7th of July, in rejoicing over the fall of Vicksburg. 

Liberty Hose House, on Willow street, was burned 30 July. 

An enthusiastic reception of the Lynn soldiers belonging to 
the Eighth Regiment, took place on the 30th of July, on the 
return from their nine months' service. There was a very long 
procession of military, firemen and citizens ; bells were rung, 
cannon fired, and welcoming speeches made ; many dwellings 
and public places were decorated ; and a collation was served 
on the Common. 

Thursday, August 6, was observed as a day of national thanks- 
giving, in view of the successes of our arms. 

The dwelling house of Frank Fiske, in Cliftondale, was burned, 
September 15. 
N2* 



474 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1864. 



1864. 

A war meeting was held at L3'ceum Hall, on Sunday evening, 
January 3, which was largely attended and enthusiastic. 

Frederic Tudor died at his residence, in Boston, on Saturday 
afternoon, February 6, aged 80. He was born in Boston, in a 
house which stood on the site of the present Tudor's Building, 
in Court street, on the 4th of September, 1783. His grandfather, 
John Tudor, emigrnted from Devonshire, England, to Boston, 
and his ^ather, William Tudor, was born in Boston, and served 
during tlie Revolution as Judge Advocate General of the army 
under Washington. Daniel Henchman, who planted the cele- 
brated old elm on Boston Common, was his maternal ancestor, 
and perhaps from him he inherited that taste for the culture of 
trees which is evidenced by the groves now flourishing on Na- 
hant. And this Daniel Henchman, by the way, was grandfather 
of Rev. Mr. Henchman who was settled over the Lynn church 
from 1720 to 1761. 

Mr. Tudoi- married, in 1834, Miss Euphemia Fenno, a native 
of New York city, and left six children, the eldest of whom was 
born in 1837, and the youngest in 1854. Their names are as 
follows : Euphemia, now a naturalized French lady, the Countess 
Kleezkowska; Frederick; Delia J.; William ; Eleonora; Henry. 

Mr. Tudo)- is justly entitled to be called the father of the 
great New England Ice Trade, which was commenced as early 
as 1805, In 1834, he sent his first cargo to the East Indies, 
and soon found himself in a highly lucrative business. He early 
became charmed by the beauties of Nahant, and in 1825 built 
his stone cottage and laid out his picturesque grounds there. 
And he continued, from yeai- to year to reside there during the 
warm season, and expend large sums in beautifying the peninsula 
and adding to his possessions. There is unquestionable autho- 
rity for stating that during the last thirty years of his life 
he expended not less than $30,000 dollars annually — making 
$900,000 ibi" that period alone. Previously he had spent large 
sums in building, improving roads, and planting trees. He was 
a man of great decision of character, promptness in action, and 
impatience of interference with his plans. Towards strangers 
he manifested great courtesy and did much to render their 
visits to Nahant agreeable. The inhabitants, at their annual 
town meeting, 12 March, 1864, unanimously adopted resolutions 
expressive of their sense of loss and appreciation of his worth 
and generosity. 

On the evening of February 8, Henry Neill, aged 49, was 
killed at the Central Rail-road Station. He jumped from the 
piatiorm of a car and fell in such a manner that the wheels 
passed over his neck, nearly severing his head. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1864. 475 

Rev, Parsons Cooke, D. D., minister of the First Church of 
Lj'nn, died on Friday afternoon, 12 February. He was born 
in Hadley, 18 February, 1800, was the son of Solomon Cooke, a 
respectable farmer, and a descendant from Capt. Haron Cooke, 
conspicuous among the early settlers of that vicinity. 

Ml-, Cooke graduated at Williams College, in 1822, and studied 
theology under Dr, Griffin, president of that institution. In 
June, 1826, he was installed over the East Evangelical Church 
in Ware, which was his first settlement. There ho remained 
till April, 1835, and then accepted a call from a society in Ports- 
mouth, N. H. In the latter place he continued about six 
months, and in 1836 accepted the call of the church at Lynn, 
and remained its pastor to the end of his life. On the 5th of 
Jui>e, 1826, he married Hannah Starkweather, who died July 2, 
1852, and by whom he had no children. His second wife, whom 
he married July 20, 1853, was Mar}^ Ann W, Hawley, of Bridge- 
port, Ct., and by her he had one son, born 27 October, 1855. 

Mr, Cooke early displayed a love of controversy, which it 
maj' be said grew with his growth and strengthened with his 
strength ; so his life was not distinguished by that pacific 
course which many believe is most strongly inculcated in the 
gospel of peace. His mind was of such an order that he rapidly 
arrived at conclusions, tenaciously held to them, and was not 
remarkble for his gentle bearing toward those who differed from 
him. His perceptions were quick, and he had an abundance of 
natural wit, which, unfortunately, was liable to exhibit itself in 
the degenerate form of sarcasm. His reasoning powers were 
evidently good ; but yet he possessed such an unaccountable 
vein of credulity, that their best fruits seemed sometimes never 
to ripen. A reference to his work entitled '' A Century of 
Puritanism and a Century of its Opposites," will be sufficient 
to satisfy any one acquainted with our history, of the truth of 
these remarks. Some of the honest individuals who supplied 
him with information would, doubtless, have been more guarded 
in their expressions, had they observed this peculiarity of his 
mind. But it is difficult not to conclude that others deliberately 
imposed upon him. It cannot be supposed that he made any 
of the remarkable statements without a full belief of their truth; 
and it is surprising that he forbore the slight examination neces- 
sary for the detection of some of the more patent errors. He 
was often boldly charged, in the newspapers, with wilful misrep- 
resentation ; but I see no necessity for the charge of wilfulness, 
and apprehend that hp was simply ensnared in the way indicated. 
His style of composition Avas net what rhetoricians call elegant, 
but was well adapted to controversial purposes. The sentences 
were short, direct, and without any waste of words. He evi- 
dently thought more of what he was saying than how be spoke. 



476 ANNALS OF LYNN — 1864.. 

Dr. Cooke was a high Calvinist, and often cast a fond look 
backward, upon the " old paths," sighing- that there had been 
such a general departure from them. He was an industrious 
and faithful minister, so far as pulpit preparations were con- 
cerned; but he visited little among the people of his charge. His 
power and delight lay rather in the use of the pen than in per- 
sonal intercourse. His ministry here was successful ; his pari- 
sioners were much attached to him, and regarded him as one 
of more than ordinary power. And had it not been for his 
unfortunate disposition to controversy, there is little doubt that 
his abilities would have commended him to the favorable regard 
and respect of the theological world in general. It may readily 
be admitted that he thought it a duty to always have his pungent 
pen ready dipped for the defence of the truth and the demolish- 
ing of error, as he deemed them; but the way in which things 
are attempted often has great influence on the result. The 
severity with which he speaks, in his " Centuries,'' of some of 
his predecessors in the pastorate of the First Church, and the 
little respect he seems to have entertained for their memories, 
lead to the conclusion that he did not consider that church 
one that had been conspicuously blessed in her ministry. With 
some of his estimates I cannot agree, and think that in other 
parts of this volume may be found such authenticated state- 
ments as will show that he labored under mistakes. And it is, 
further, a matter of regret that he should have taken occasion 
to give what is believed to be an undeservedly dark coloring to 
the morals, intelligence, and manners of the people of Lynn. 

The pulpit oratory of Mr. Cooke was not pleasing to those 
unaccustomed to it; the delivery was rapid, in a high tone, and 
with very little intonation ; but his appearance was dignified. 
He was not an adept in music, and took no part in the choral 
portion of the service. In person he was commanding, being 
considerably above the ordinary stature, but symmetrical. His 
habits were sedentary, and in part, no doubt, the occasion 
of his last protracted and painful sickness. He suffered greatly 
for two years, but with the resignation that always character- 
izes the good man. Immediately before his death, in a still 
watchful anxiety for the souls of his charge, he dictated, and 
with a tremulous hand signed, the following — the ever-living 
testimony of a dying Christian. 

Lynn, Feb. 8th, 1864. 
As I am about to close my ministry and my life, I have one thing to say to 
my people — That all the support that I find in a dying hour, are the doctrines 
of grace I have preached, which centre in Jesus Christ and him crucified, and 
are to my heart a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief; and that these 
I would commeud to the acceptance of all, with my dying breath. 

Paksons Cooke. 



ANNALS OF LYNN — 1864. 477 

The publications of Mr. Cooke were numerous. The titles 
of his books, in brief, may be given as follows. 

1. Modern Universalism Exposed. 

2. A History of German Anabaptism. 

3. The Divine Law of Beneficence. 

4. Recollections of Dr. Griffin. 

5. A Century of Puritanism and a Century of its Opposites. 
The foregoing were all in book form, and besides them he 

published some twenty pamphlets — sermons, addresses, tracts, 
&c. And in speaking of his industry with the pen it should 
likewise be mentioned that for about twenty years he was one 
of the regular editors of the Puritan newspaper, which publi- 
cation was commenced at Lynn and afterward removed to Bos- 
ton. See under date 1840. 

Mr. Cooke was the first minister who died while settled over 
the First Church, for a little more than a centur}^ Mr. Hench- 
man, who died in 1761, having been the last one before him who 
died in the pastorate. And it may be noted as a coincidence 
that Mr. Henchman was born in the first 3^ear of century 1700, 
as Mr. Cooke was in the first year of century 1800; and they 
attained very near the same age. 

A great easterly storm commenced on the 29th of March, and 
continued till the 2d of April. The wind blew with great vio- 
lence, and the sea came in furiously. The beacon on Dread 
Ledge, an obelisk of granite, twenty-five feet in height and 
three feet square at the base, was broken off near the centre. 

The fine summer residence of Benjamin T. Reed, at Red Rock, 
was destroyed by fire on the night of April 8. 

The school-house on Howard street was destroyed by fire on 
the morning of June 8. 

Saturday, June 25, was the warmest day in Lynn, of which 
there is anyarecord. The thermometer reached a hundred and 
four degrees in the most shady places. At five o'clock in the 
afternoon it stood above a hundred. The next day,- Sunday, 
was nearly as warm. The same remarkable degree of heat 
was experienced in other parts of New England. 

The extensive soap manuftxcturing establishment of George 
E. Emery, on Chesnut street, near Gravesend village was de- 
stroyed by fire on the night of June 26. 

A severe drought prevailed this summer, and destructive fires 
took place in the woods in the latter part of July. 

A threatening fire occurred on Federal Square, near Water 
Hill, on the afternoon of July 22. It commenced in the bakery 
of Isaac H. Tarbox, consumed four frame buildings and injured 
several others. 

The first steam fire engine owned by the city arrived in town 
on the 11th of August. It received the name "City of Lynn." 



478 AIUiALS OP LYNN — 1864. 

Mackerel appeared on the coast, in great abundance, during 
the early part of the autumn. The crew of the little fisliing 
schooner Minnehaha, of Swampscot, on the 18th of September, 
off Boon Island, caught three hundred and fifty barrels. And 
the crew of the Flying Dart, of the same place, at another point, 
took a hundred and tliirty barrels in some four hours. 

At about five o'clock on the morning of Thursday, October 
6, the City Hall, on South Common street, head of Blossom, 
was discovered to be on fire, and was soon destroyed. It was 
of wood, and not a very comely structure. A good representa- 
tion of it may be found on page 591, accompanied by a brief 
historical sketch. In the northeast corner of the building, on 
the first floor, was the Lock-up, a place for the temporary con- 
finement of offenders, and on the same floor were the City 
Clerk's office, the Mayor and Aldermen's room, and the offices 
of the Police Justice and City Marshal. On the upper floor 
were the Police Court room, the office of the Clerk of the 
Police Court, and the Common Council room. In the Lock-up 
an unfortunate man, named Joseph Bond, aged about forty years, 
was confined, and being unable to extricate himself and no help 
seasonably arriving, though his shrieks were heard, he was 
burned to death. It appeared that he was a man of generally 
correct habits, but on the occasion of his arrest had from some 
cause become turbulent. 

On Thursday evening, October 27, the Female Benevolent 
Society celebrated their fiftieth anniversary, by a gathering and 
an entertainment at Armory Hall. This society was formed in 
1814, by benevolent ladies belonging to the different religious 
societies, and has ever continued to flourish, dispensing, in an 
unostentatious way, blessings to thousands. 

On the 2d of November the two Lynn companies of the 
Eighth Regiment returned from three months' service, and 
were welcomed by a public parade and an entertainment ; in 
the former of which the fire department joined, and in the latter 
of which the good old Yankee dish of baked beans held a prom- 
inent position. 

There was no Indian summer this year; a thing hardly ever 
known within the memory of man. 

On the 10th of December the schooner Lion, from Rockland, 
Me., loaded with granite, was wrecked off Long Beach, and all 
on board — six in number — perished. A violent storm prevailed, 
and it was very cold. Though the cries of the hapless mariners 
were heard upon the Beach, they could not be rescued. 

The Franklin Trotting Park Hotel, in Saugus, (Cliftondale,) 
was, with its contents, destroyed by fire, on the night of Dec. 19. 

And here, ivith the year 1864, ive close our Chapter of Annals, 
embracing the record of two hundred and thirty five years. 



AUTOGRAPHS. 



Sevkkaf. of the lollouiiig- fac-siinilos appear in otiier connections in tliia 
voliuiic ; lint it was tlionj^lit tliat the reader would be pleased to see tiiein 
coliectively on one ])aire. with tiiosi* tiiat do not elsewhere ap|)ear. It is an 
old tiiiicv that tiie character ot" an individual may he determined by his band- 
writiiiir; and to those who entertain it, aiitoifraphs are peculiarly interesting. 

The star distiniruishes those who were born in Lynn. 

The references to pa^es show where accounts of the individuals may be 
found; tbou^di in most instances tliey are sfioken of in several places, which 
may be ascertained by referring to the index. 






Vng; 




Samuil triiitiiif/, A''r — nettled 
over tlio First Cluireh of 
Lynn, in l(i:!(i, oontinuinij in 
tlie pnstorate 4:! years. Writ- 
ten in ir»r'J, at the aye of S-'. 
p. 287. 



Jeremiah Sliepard—fiiiccoftsor to iMr. AVIiitinp;-, and 
first minister in tlie Old Tunnel Mceting-liouse, 
where ho preached 37 years. Written iu lOSy, at 
tlie age of il. p. 3H. 




^r^wci£ 



Oeorrie Ilnrn'll — head of tlie 
family oiue ealled the roy- 
al f:iinily of Lynn. Writ- 
ten iu 1003. p. 115. 




c 



V 



* Efieiieier lireeil — "t'nelu Kbeu.' 
at tlio age of 31. \). 519 



■ Writteu iu 1796, 



T^o.,^ -//^^/G./tt Jia rj-ff^i&l^^ 



* Thomas Xrirh,/// —tho first )iers()n of 
European i);ireutaye l>orn in J.ynn. 
Writteu iu 1077, at the aye of 47. p.i^-^. 



.!/«// I'itclter — tlie fortune teller. Writ- 
teu in 1770, at the aye of 3'.;. p. 374. 



Thomas iMn/h/nii — nn active and 
eonspieuons settler. Writteu iu 
100b. p. 155. 



Tham'ta Di'.rter — a prominent and cnter- 
prisiuy: settler. Written in 1057. p. 119. 



^7^ 




Cleorqe Gray — the hermit of Lynn. AVritteu iu 
1843, at the age of 73. p. 419. 




6^:^^-^^ 




-^y^^-^^ 



* Aloii.-.o Leirh — Lynn bard and historian. 
Written iu 1S31, a't the age of 37. p. 544. 



J^^o^J^X^^ T^^c^ a/, 



* Afftriii liifiHsfii I'ullir — writer 
of prose and poc^try. Written 
iu lb'.i9, at the age of 22. p. 5ii5. 



Cc^o<^<.^<..'0<yL^<^ 



* Chiirli-.i /■'. A,»»n;(/;.s — lirst i)riuter in Lyuu. Writ- 
ten iu 1.S32, at the age of 31. p. 511. 



CHAPTER III. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Introductory Remarks, page 479 — Biographical Sketch of Tliomas Newhall, 
482 — Jolm Burrill, 489 — Ebenezer Burrill, 492 — Jacob Newhall, 494 — 
William Gray, 496 — Micajah Collins, 500 — Solomon Moulton, 502 — 
Maria Augusta Fuller, 505 — Charles F. Lunimus, 511 — Elijah Downing, 
519 — Ebenezer Breed, 519 — Enoch Curtin, 528— Josiah Newhall, 533 — 
Edward L. Coffin, 533 — Enoch Mudge, 536- Asa T. Newhall, 537 — 
Ezra Mudge, 538 — Francis S. Newhall, 539 — Isaac Newhall, 540 — Isaiah 
Breed, 541 — George Hood, 542 — Alonzo Lewis, 544 — Daniel C. Baker, 
566 — Ben>amin F. Newhall, 567. 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

It is too often the case that those individuals whom a com- 
munity delight to laud and magnify, are those who, through 
some fortuitous circumstance, unsupported by anything beyond 
a common share of talent or virtue, have become conspicuous. 
And if a cotemporary historian, perceiving the deficiency, and 
in the honest desire to deal justly, does not place them in the 
popular light, he is liable to be charged with prejudice or lack 
of discernment. But he must not be troubled at this ; remem- 
bering that his duty, in a great degree, pertains to the future, 
to the time when the meretricious mantle of an unsound popu- 
larity has fallen. His duty is to celebrate deeds of virtue and 
usefulness, however humble in their generation may be the 
instruments who performed them. But if the historian be not 
cotemporary, he must depend on recorded and traditionary 
accounts ; in which case, though safer from criticism, he may 
not be so successful in developing the truth or deducing the 
proper lesson, for he must be governed by what may be the 
mistakes, prejudices, or whims of others. 

^479) 



480 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

The few Biographical Sketches which follow, relate only to 
natives of Lynn. In the pages of Annals numerous notices of 
prominent individuals from other places, who took up their 
abode here, may be found ; but it was thought proper to make 
a distinction between them and those who were born on our 
soil. I have endeavored to present such characters as on the 
whole seemed best calculated to make useful and agreeable 
impressions ; but that many others who have passed away were 
deserving of honorable mention is most certainly true; and 
nothing but the imperative requirements of limited space pre- 
vented a large extension of the list. And then there is the great 
body of those of whom no record remains. Beneath the sods 
of the Old Burying Ground repose an innumerable company 
of those whose names will stand high in a better book than this, 
but who lived in retirement and departed in silence. 

Men who are themselves destitute of principle usually find it 
hard to believe that others act from principle. And most people 
live on, almost exclusively with a view to the present, the pass- 
ing time ; thinking only of their position in the community by 
which they are surrounded, of their possessions, of the many 
eyes that are turned upon them in admiration or envy. But 
there are, happily for our race, some with more comprehensive 
minds ; some who realize their dignity as men; Mnth concep- 
tions not circumscribed by time and place, but recognizing their 
duty to mankind in general, and their responsibility to their 
Maker. And it is refreshing to contemplate the lives of such 
though their companionship may have been with the most lowly. 
. When men seriously reflect on their ways, they seldom fail 
to come to the conclusion that they are capable of better things 
than they have ever accomplished ; and conceited as it may 
seem, of most people it is true. These reflections make them 
restless and discontented ; and they should see to it that their 
better energies be put forth. And how many of us pass our 
whole lives in an atmosphere of pure selfishness, never realizing 
that our obligations extend beyond ourselves and those immedi- 
ately dependent on us. It were better, perhaps, that the sordid 
and vicious should pass recluse lives ; but the virtuous and 
wise should bestir themselves among men, that others may be 
benefited by their good examples and superior wisdom. I am 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES — INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 481 

persuaded that in former times the public position of a man was 
a much surer index of his real merits, than it is at present ; and 
think that in the following pages something will appear to 
sustain the view. 

Who does not love to contemplate the character of a true 
man. And the nearer his position in life may have been to ours, 
the more direct the lesson taught by his history ; for we may 
be animated by similar hopes, struggling with similar difficulties, 
beset by similar temptations, quickened by similar affections. 
But there can be little benefit in contemplating the characters 
of others, however good or great, unless we strive to follow the 
exemplar. 

It is thought that the reader will at once recognize the pro- 
priety of excluding from this Chapter of Biographies all who are 
not natives. There certainly should be some distinction pre- 
served. Mr. Lewis often, and at times with asperity, complained 
that Lynn was not true to her own children ; that, for instance, 
those from other places were generally called to fill her positions 
of honor and emolument. And there was more truth and sa- 
gacity in many of his tart observations on the subject than 
some were willing to admit. She has not, in this particular, 
done the best for herself; for it cannot be expected, in the 
ordinary course of events, that those from abroad should feel 
the same interest in her honor and prosperity that her own sons 
would. The adopted child is not apt to take that lively interest 
in the welfare of a household which the native born does. Many 
of her children, driven away, as it were, have become eminent 
abroad, and employed for the benefit of others those talents 
which should have enriched her. 

Our task is undertaken for more than one purpose. It is 
desirable to perpetuate the names of some of the worthy ones 
who have adorned our history ; and if we can present a little 
something that will profit or entertain, there will a pleasure in 
the labor. There will be a constant endeavor to pursue a 
course free from prejudice or unmerited adulation. Truth is 
a thing exterior to man ; and whatever he may do cannot 
change its nature ; and we hope to keep the fact in view, though 
it is so difficult, in religion, in politics, in any thing, to avoid 
acting as if mere belief were truth itself. 

02 31 



482 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

THOMAS NEWHALL — 1630-1687. 
Perhaps the most notable circumstance regarding this mdi- 
vidual is that he was the first white child horn in Lynn. His 
father, who also bore the christian name of Thomas was one of 
the earliest settlers, and lived on the east side of Federal street, 
a few rods south of the mill brook, owning all the lands, on that 
side, between the Turnpike and Marion street. The elder 
Thomas had another son, John, who was born in England. 
He likewise had two daughters, Susanna and Mary.' The former 
married Richard Haven, and became maternal ancestor of one 
of the most respectable of American families. See page 186. 
Mary married Thomas Brown, and had several children. 

Thomas Newhall, the subject of this sketch, was born in 1630, 
and was baptized by Rev. Mr. Bachiler, the first minister of 
Lynn, on the first Sunday after his arrival, being June 8, 1632. 
A rather comical scene occurred at the baptism. Christopher 
Hussey, who was a son-in-law of Mr. Bachiler, and who proba- 
bly induced the reverend gentleman to come here, had a child, 
named Stephen, to be baptized at the same time ; and Mr. Bach- 
iler, as Thomas was first presented for the holy rite, unceremoni- 
ously put him aside, declaring that he should baptize Stephen, 
who appears to have been named for his reverend grandfather, 
first. Mr. Lewis seems to have thought a sort of family pride 
induced this movement, which struck him as an indignity toward 
Thomas ; but it should, perhaps, be viewed in the light of a com- 
pliment. It may have been that Stephen was noisy and turbu- 
lent, insomuch that the old gentleman was ashamed of him and 
anxious to hurry him out of sight, while Thomas was quiet and 
well-behaved. But it is not important to pursue the inquiry. 
At the age of twenty-two Mr. Newhall married Elizabeth 
Potter, who I think was a daughter of Nicholas Potter, a man 
concerned in the Iron Works, but who afterward resided at 
Salem and was called a bricklayer. It is, however, I believe, 
somewhere stated bv Mr. Lewis, that she was a daughter of 
Robert Potter, who was here for a short time among the very 
first settlers ; but I am confident this is a mistake. For some 
facts concerning this Robert Potter, see page 126. 

No striking events appear in the life of Mr Newhall. Indeed, 
seated here, in a little forest opening, amid a population that 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES — THOMAS NEWHALL. 483 

could almost.be numbered in an hour, with no stirring incidents 
to mark the years as they rolled by, there was little opportunity 
for one to make himself conspicuous, whatever his talents or 
ambition. But from the frequency with which his name appears 
on the records, connected with trustworthy transactions, it must 
be inferred that he was a man of integrity, and one in whose 
judgment much reliance was placed. And he seems to have 
bad a very fair education. On page 126, is a fac-simile of his 
.signature. And it is there stated that the two last letters were 
supplied. Since the engraving was made I have seen one or 
two other signatures of his, which correspond in a remarkable 
degree; and it is hardly possible to discover any difference 
between the supplied letters and those made by his own hand 
It seems appropriate and con- ^ 

venient to have the fac-simile ~Jif-0^mct4 /ciM^dci^'^ 
likewise introduced in this con- signature of Thomas NewhaU. 

nection. 

Mr. Newhall died in March, 1687, his wife having died a few 
weeks before. He was the father of ten children ; and for 
many years, if, indeed, not to the present time, the Newhall 
family has certainly been deserving of commendation for its 
fecundity if for nothing else. 

I now propose to give a genealogical view of the principal 
branches of the great Newhall family descending from this our 
common ancestor. It would, however, be impossible here to 
follow the blood in all its windings. A large volume would 
scarcely afford sufficient space for that. But enough will be 
given, it is thought, to enable any one of the family to trace 
his connection. Great pains have been taken to have the record 
correct ; but still the most patient investigation and diligent 
inquiry amid so many entanglements and positive contradictions 
may not meet with the reward of entire success. Numerous 
records and documents, besides those in the meagre archives 
of Lynn, have been examined. Indeed, if Lynn "alone had been 
depended on, the information would have been most imperfect 
and unreliable. If all our public records were as defective as 
the few that survive, their loss is not much to be deplored, for 
they must, at some periods at least, have abounded with obscu- 
rities and ridiculous errors. Some years ago several of the 



484 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

old books were copied, at some cost. And an opportunity wag 
thus afforded to multiply the errors ; an opportunity which, I 
am sorry to say, did not pass unimproved. 

Though the great progenitor of the Newhall family, was 
Thomas, father of the subject of this sketch, yet there was an 
Anthony Newhall here, in 1636, who, in the division of lands, 
in 1638, had a grant of thirty acres. He was, however, for a 
time a resident of Salem. He died 31 January, 1657 ; had a son 
John, who married Elizabeth Normanton, 31 December 1656, 
and probably other children, as in his will are found the names 
of Richard and Elizabeth Hood, grandchildren. But it does not 
appear that any of the present Newhall families of Lynn can 
trace their origin to him. I thought that John might have 
been his only male child, and that he, perhaps, had no male issue ; 
but Farmer seems to make him progenitor of Dr. Horace and 
Rev. Ebenezer Newhall, who graduated at Harvard in 1817 and 
1818 

In what follows, the numerals placed before the names indicate 
the generation to which the individuals belonged. 

I. Thomas. As just observed, this iDdividual, the great progenitor of the 
Newhalls of Lynn, came over in 1630, and located on the east side of Federal 
street. 

II. Thomas. This is the personage whose name stands at the head of 
this sketch — a son of the preceding, and the first w^hite persoi born in Lynn. 
He married, 29 December, 1652, Elizabetl) Potter, and became the father 
of ten children, viz: Thomas, born 18 November, 1653; Jolni, b. 14 Feb- 
ruary, 1656; Joseph, b. 22 September, 1658; Nathaniel, b. 17 March, 1660; 
Elizabeth, b. 21 March, 1662, and living but three years ; Elisha, b. 3 Novem- 
ber, 1665; Elizabeth again, b. 22 October, 1667; Maiy, b. 18 February, 1669; 
Samuel, b. 19 January, 1672; Rebecca, b. 17 July, 1675. 

ni. Joseph. This, the third son of II. Thomas, was born 22 September, 
1658. He married Susanna, a daughter of Thomas Farrar, in 1678, and settled 
in Lynnfield. He had eleven children, viz : Jemima, born 31 December, 1678 ; 
Thomas, b. 6 Januaiy, 1681 ; Joseph, b. 6 Februaiy, 1684; Elisha, b. 20 No- 
vember, 1686 ; Ephraim, b. 20 February, 1689 ; Daniel, b. 5 February, 1691 ; 
Ebenezer, b. 3 June, 1693 ; Susanna, b. 19 December, 1695 ; Benjamin, b. 5 
April, 1698; Samuel, b. 9 March, 1700; Sarah, b. 11 July, 1704. This is the 
Joseph, without doubt, who perished in a great snow storm. 

rV. Benjamin, son of III. Joseph, born 5 April, 1698, married Elizabeth 
Fowle, 1 January, 1722, and had fourteen children, viz: Bridget, born 30 No- 
vember, 1722; Mary, b. 11 November, 1724 ; Benjamin, b. 6 September, 1726; 
Ruth, b. 13 January, 1729; James, b. 11 July, 1731 ; Isaiah, b. 24 March, 1734; — 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES — THOMAS NEWHALL. 485 

(though this last name is plainly Josiah on the ancient town recora, I am 
confident that Isaiah is right) — Joel, b. 22 December, 1735, who died at the 
age of nine ; Aaron, b. 23 October, 1737, who died in infancy ; Aaron again, b. 26 
March, 1740; Susanna and Elizabeth, twins, b. 22 December, 1741; Martha, 
b. 23 February, 1743; Catharine, b. 27 April, 1744; Joel, again, b. 17 Febru- 
ary, 1746. 

IV. Samuel, born 9 March, 1700, son of lU. Joseph, was adopted by his 
uncle, Thomas Fa;rrar, jr., who was a farmer, living on Nahant street, and who 
by will gave him all the lauds lying between Broad, Nahant, Sagamore, and 
Beach streets. This Samuel married Keziah, daughter of Ebenezer Breed, 
who lived in Breed's End, so called, 8 December, 1724, and had ten children, 
viz: Anne, born 27 October, 1725, who married Matthew Estes; Elizabeth, b. 
7 March, 1728 , Sarah, b. 20 August, 1730, who, at the age of seventy married 
Abner Jones, of Amesbury ; Lydia, b. 14 January, 1733, who married Nehe- 
miah Johnson; Farrar, b. 15 February 1735; — (who, singularly enough, has 
always been known as Pharaoh; and indeed he himself, in writing his name 
as I perceive by some old bills, adopted the Egyptian orthography) — Abijah, 
b. 15 February, 1737, whoiwarried Abigail Bassett; Abigail, b. 4 March, 1739, 
who married Samuel Purinton ; Daniel, b. 4 February, 1741; Rebecca, b. 28 
October, 1743, who married Abner Chase of Salem ; Ruth, b. 12 October, 1746, 
who married John Bassett. 

V. James. This, the second son of IV. Benjamin, being a magistrate, 
was long known as 'Squire Jim — (see under date 1781) — he married Lois 
Burrill, daughter of Ebenezer, called Esquire, and granddaughter of Hon. 
Ebenezer Burrill, 17 September, 1756, and had ten children, viz: Lois, 
born 9 July, 1757 ; Lydia, b. 21 August, 1759 ; Elizabeth, b. 23 June, 1761 ; 
James, b. 2 June, 1763; Martha, b. 25 February, 1765; Benjamin, b. 27 Feb- 
ruary, 1767; Joel, b. 14 May, 1769; Mary, b. 7 September, 1771; James again 
and Benjamin again, twins, b. 19 January, 1774 — and these twins, the former 
of whom was uncle and the latter father of the writer lived to the respective 
ages of 80 and 83. 

V. Farrar, (or Pharaoh), the first son of FV. Samuel, born 15 February, 
1735, married his cousin Theodate, daughter of Jabez Breed, of Nahant street, 
24 April, 1764, and had six children, viz : Samuel, born 9 March, 1765 ; Al)ner, 
b. 24 September, 1767, and died in infancy ; Winthrop, b. 6 June, 1769 ; Ab- 
ner again, b. 19 July, 1771, who died unmarried at the age of thirty-two ; Syl- 
vaims, b. 18 July, 1773 ; Theodate, b. 6 February, 1776, who married Manuel 
Austin ; Fi'ancis, b. 23 September, 1778, who died at the age of nine. 

V. Daniel, born 4 February, 1741, son of IV. Samuel, and younger brother 
of Pharaoh, married Hannah Estes, and had four children, viz: Estes, born 
9 September, 1770, and who died in 1857, at the age of eighty seven ; Deborah, 
b. 5 December, 1772, who died young ; Lydia, b. 16 March, 1775 ; Daniel, b. 
21 November, 1778. 

V. Josiah, whose father's name was John, and which John was doubtless 
a grandson of II. Thomas, married Hannah Newhall, 24 December, 1740, and 
had thirteen children, viz: Daniel, b. 15 November, 1741 ; John, b. 29 October, 
02* 



486 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

1743 ; Josiah, b. 5 November, 1745 ; Hannah, b. 28 August, 1747 ; Lyaia, b. 
25 September, 1749; William, b. 22 May, 1751; Joel, b. 19 February, 1753; 
Nathaniel, b. 25 November, 1754; Micajah, b. 18 October, 1756; Jacob, b. 16 
September, 1758 ; James, b. 26 May, 1760 ; Hannah, b. 30 July, 1762 ; Susan, 
b. 3 August, 1764, who married a Welman, 

VI. Samuel, eldest son of V. Pharaoh, married Sarah Phillips and had seven 
children, viz: Thomas F., Phillips, Abner, Rebecca, Edward, Francis, and 
Theodate. 

VI. WiNTHROP, second son of V. Pharaoh, married Betsey Farrington, and 
had six children, viz: Francis S., Henry, Eliza, Sophia, Lydia, Horace. 

VI. ^LVANUS, youngest son of V. Pltaraoh, married Lydia, daughter of Ste- 
phen Gove, of Seabrook, N. H., and had five chiJdrea, viz: lluldah B., Anne 
M., Mary, Daniel Wendall, and Abigail C. 

VI. EsTES, eldest son of V. Daniel, was for some fifty years an elder of the 
Friends' meeting. He was twice married, his first wife being Hepsabeth Wing, 
and his second Miriam Philbrick. By his first wife he had children, Paul 
W. and Abba ; by his second, two daughters who died young, and Joseph P. 

VI. Danikl, youngest son of V. Daniel, marriad Mary, daughter of John 
Bailey, of Hanover, 3Iass., and had seven children, viz : John B., George, Hep- 
sabeth, Joseph, Isaac, Mary, Lucy. 

VI. William, son of V. Josiah, married Martha Mansfield, 2 September, 
1773, and had ten children, viz : Mary, born 22 May, 1774 ; Martha, b. 28 Jan- 
uary, 1778; Hannah, b. 6 September, 1780; Elizabeth, b. 31 August, 1782; 
Nathaniel, b. 18 July, 1784; William, b. 3 August, 1786; Robert, b. 17 Feb- 
ruary, 1788 ; Josiah, b. 7 January, 1790 ; Sally, b. 17 January, 1792 ; Frederic, 
b. 1 August, 1795. 

VI. Jo*:l, born 19 February, 1753, also son of V. Josiah, married Lucy 
Mansfield, 24 December, 1778, and had nine children, viz: Joel, b. 12 October, 
1779; Isaac, b. 24 August, 1782; Samuel, b. 6 March, 1785; Cheever, b. 13 
March, 1788; Lucy, b. 4 April, 1790; George, b. 10 August, 1792: Edward, 
b. 9 December, 1795 ; Horatio ; John M. 

VL Micajah, born 18 October, 1756, likewise son of V. Josiah, married 
Joana Farrington, 10 June, 1779, and had twelve children, viz: Josiah, b. 
10 November, 1780; Nathaniel, b. 2 July, 1782; Micajah, b. 25 July, 1784; 
Paul, b. 17 February, 1786; Otis, b. 6 January, 1788; Sarah, b. 17 August, 
1789; Ellis, b. 17 August, 1791, who died in infancy; Ellis again, b. 7 March, 
1793 ; Joana, b. 8 February, 1795 ; Hannah, b. 8 April, 1797 ; Susanna, b. 25 
October, 1799 ; William, b. 13 January, 1802, who died in infancy. 

The way is now prepared to give the liueage of certain indi- 
viduals of the Newhall family at present among us. 

Aaron Newhall — dealer in coal and wood, south end of Market street, was 
son of Aaron, who was born 9 Novemi)er, 1777, and was son of Aaron, who 
was son of IV. Benjamin, who was sou of III. Joseph, who was son of 
n. Thomas. 

Abuer Newhall — who resides on Newhall street, was sou of VL Samuel, 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES — THOMAS NEWHALL. 487 

who was son of V. Farrar, (Pliaraob,) who was sou of IV. Samuel, who 
was son of III. Joseph, who was son of IT. Thomas. 
Daniel Wendall Newhall — who lives on Broad street, opposite Ex- 
change, was son of Sylvanus, who was son of V. Pharaoh, who was son of 

IV. Samuel, who was son of III. Joseph, who was son of II. Tliomas. 
Harrison Newhall — shoe manufacturer, at the east end of the Common, 

was son of Josiah, who was son of VI. William, wlio was son of V. Josiah, 
who was son of Jolin, of whom, in consequence of the difficulty of identifying 
him among several of the name, I shall venture to assert nothing fiu-ther 
than diat he was a grandson of II. Thomas. 

Henry Newhall — president of Laighton Bank, was son of VI. Winthrop, 
who was son of V. Pliaraoh, who was son of IV. Samuel, who Avas son of , 
in. Joseph, who was son of II. Thomas. 

Isaac Newhall — shoe manufacturer, residence near corner of Chatham 
and Marianna streets, was son of VI. Daniel, who was son of V. Daniel, 
who was son of FV. Samuel, who was son of HI. Joseph, who was son of 
n. Thomas. 

James R. Newhall — whose name appears in the title page of this volume, 
was son of Benjamin, who was son of V. James, who was son of IV. Benja- 
min, who was son of III. Joseph, who was son of II. Thomas. 

John M. Newhall — shoe manufacturer, on Union street, was son of VI. 
Joel, who was son of V. Josiah, who was sou of John, who was grandson 
of II. Thomas. See remark under " Harrison Newhall." 

Joseph P. Newhall — shoe manufacturer, Exchange street, was son of 
VI. Estes, who was sou of V. Daniel, who was son of IV. Samuel, who 
was son of III. Joseph, who was son of II. Tiiomas. 

Josiah Newhall, (Gen. of Lynnfield) — was son of Jacob, who was son of 

V. Josiah, who was son of John, who was grandson of II. Tiiomas. See 
remark under " Harrison Newhall." 

Otis Newhall — superintendent of Pine Grove Cemetery, was son of Allen, 
who was born fi INIarch, 1771, and was son of Hanson, who married Hepsa- 
beth Breed, 6 February, 1766, and was son of Joseph, born in 1715. who was 
son of Joseph, who was son of III. Joseph, who was son of II. Thomas. 

Paul Newhall — shoe manufacturer. South Common street, was son of 

VI. Micajaii, who was son of V. Josiah, who was son of John, who was 
grandson of II. Thomas. See remark luider " Harrison Newhall." 

Thomas B. Newhall — Justice of Lynn Police Court, was a son of Asa T., . 
of Lynnfield, who was born 28 June, 1779, and was son of Asa, who was 
born 5 August, 173'2, and was son of Thomas, who was son of III. Joseph, 
who was son of II. Thomas. 

William M. Newhall — dealer in hard ware, in Exchange Buiklinir, Mar- 
ket street, was son of Jacob, of Saugus, who was born 1 November, 1780, 
and married Abigail Makepeace, 22 September, 1801, and was son of Jacob, 
known as Landlord Newhall, born 3 May, 1740, who was son of Locker, 
born 12 November, 1708, and was son of Jacob, born 27 March, 1686. who 
was grandson of II. Thomas. 



488 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

The foregoing is perhaps suflScient to enable any one of the 
family to trace his own pedigree, as it is hardly probable that 
any can be found who do not claim near relationship to some 
one at least of those named. The perplexities in preparing the 
list were great, and the navigation among the many Jameses, 
Johns, Josephs, and Thomases, particularly difficult. Double 
names began commonly to be used about the beginning of the 
present century. My grandfather, who died in 1800, had ten 
children, not one of whom had a middle name. And my father, 
who was born in 1774, had nine children, not one of whom was 
destitute of a middle name. And this leads to a remark con- 
cerning the bestowal of nicknames, which has been considered 
an evil habit of our fathers. But the custom arose rather from 
necessity. At one period there were eight persons here of the 
name of James Newhall, not one of whom had a middle name; 
They were therefore distinguished as 'Squire Jim, Phthisicy 
Jim, Silver Jim, Bully Jim, Increase Jim, President Jim, Na- 
than's Jim, and Doctor Jim. 'Squire Jim received his appella- 
tion from the circumstance of his holding a magistrate's commis- 
sion. Phthisicy Jim was affiicted with the disease indicated 
by the name. And probably the other nicknames arose from 
similarly adventitious circumstances. While, however, we ad- 
mit the necessity for distinguishing appellations, it must be 
granted that the nicknames were often more expressive than 
elegant. 

It is not easy to attain entire correctness in dates of birtns, 
marriages, and deaths, so loosely were most of the records for- 
merly kept. And there are constant disagreements between 
public and private records. I have usually, in cases of doubt, 
followed the public, for the private, though often found in the 
Bible, experience has shown to be most frequently erroneous. 
Many disagreements occur from an intermixture of the old and 
new styles, some using one, some the other, and some both, 
indiscriminately. Intermarriages between those of the same 
Burname likewise occasionally intervene, to enhance the per- 
plexity. 

But our remarks must be drawn to a close. As before ob- 
eerved, no striking events appear in the life of Mr. Newhall, 
the subject of this sketch ; yet, inasmuch as be was the first 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES — JOHN BURRILL. 489 

person of European parentage born within our borders, and was, 
withal, the ancestor of such a goodly family, he was worthy of 
the first place. Could he return, and sound the multitude who 
sprang from his loins, of which of us would he have cause to be 
proud, and of which ashamed? I can think of nothing that 
would be more likely to astonish him than the diversity in reli- 
gious profession. Even among the small number of those now 
living, who have been named, he would find the Unitarian, the 
Universalist, the Methodist, the Quaker, the Episcopalian; and 
the Congregationalist of his own order, with doctrines far more 
temperate than harsh Shepard or even placid Whiting taught. 



JOHN BURRILL. — 1658-1721. 

The individual whose name is placed above, was one of the 
most eminent men in the colony, for many years. He was born 
at Lynn, on the 18th of November, 1658, and was the eldest son 
of John Burrill, distinguished as Lieutenant John, who was a son 
of George Burrill, who came to Lynn in 1630. See page 115. 

Mr. Burrill lived on the south side of Boston street, on the 
western slope of Tower Hill. On the 28tlj of July, 1680, a 
few months before he arrived at the age of twenty-two, he 
married Mary Stowers, of Chelsea. Mr. Lewis says, " He gained 
a reputation which few men who have since filled his stations, 
have surpassed. The purity of his character and the integrity 
of his life, secured to him the warmest friendship of his acquaint- 
ance, and the unlimited confidence of his native town. He was 
affable in his manners, and uniformly prudent in his conduct. 
His disposition was of the most charitable kind, and his spirit 
regulated by the most guarded temperance. He willingly con- 
tinued in the House many years, when he might have been 
raised to a more elevated office ; and his thorough acquaintance 
with the forms of legislation, the dignity of his deportment, and 
the order which he maintained in debate, gave to him a respect 
and an influence, which probably no other Speaker of the House 
ever obtained. Governor Hutchinson, in his History of Massa- 
chusetts, compares him to the celebrated William Pitt, Speaker 
of the English House of Commons." 

This is an honest tribute to a really valuable character. But 



490 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

it is not easy to see what induced Mr. Lewis to give Pitt as the 
Speaker to whom Hutchinson compared Mr. Burrill. The Gov- 
ernor does not give a name, but simply refers to the individual 
as " the right honorable person who so many years filled the 
chair of the House of Commons with such applause." Did Pitt 
ever fill the chair with applause ? He was eminent as a states- 
man, but not as a presiding officer. The " right honorable " 
alluded to was undoubtedly Sir Arthur Onslow, who had the 
reputation of being the most accomplished Speaker the House 
ever had. The following extract from a letter of Hon. Timothy 
Pickering, dated Washington City, 28 February, 1809, and ad- 
dressed to Ebenezer Burrill, at New York, is sufficient on this 
point. And it will be perceived that the distinguished writer 
of the letter himself alludes to his relationship to the Lynn 
Burrills. . . . " I received, last evening, your fixvor of the 25th. 
If you are from Lynn, in Massachusetts, no doubt we are, on 
one side descended from the same stock. My paternal grand- 
mother was Sarah Burrill, whose brothers were : 1st. John, of 
whom Governor Hutchinson, in his History of Massachusetts, 
takes distinguished notice ; he was Speaker of the House of 
E-epresentatives, and is compared with the celebrated Sir Arthur 
Onslow, the most eminent Speaker of the House of Commons. 
2d. Theophilus, who, I believe, had no children. 3d. Ebenezer, 
from whom you may be lineally descended." Besides the three 
brothers named by Mr. Pickering, there were Thomas and 
Samuel. 

Mr. Burrill was a Representative in the General Court, for 
twenty-two years, was Speaker of the House ten years, and 
Counsellor in 1720, remaining in the office till his death. He 
was also Town Clerk thirty-one years. These facts are quite 
sufficient to show that the public had an abiding confidence in 
his ability and integrity. He was likewise a man whose advice 
and assistance was much sought for among his neighbors. He 
was ever ready to counsel, and, if need be, assist in a more sub- 
stantial way, as he was blessed with considerable means. 

He died of the small-pox, on the 10th of December, 1721, 
leaving no children. His grave stone may still be seen in the 
Old Burying Ground near the west end of the Common ; and it 
bears these lines : 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES — JOHN BURRILL. 491 

Alas! our patron 's dead ! The country — court — 

The church — hi tears, all echo the report; 

Grieved that no piety, no. mastering sense, 

No counsel, gravity, no eloquence, 

No generous temper, gravitating to 

Those honors, which they <licl upon him throw, 

Could stay his fate, or their dear Burrill save 

From a contagious sickness, and the grave. 

The adjacent tow^ns this loss reluctant bear, 

But widowed Lynn sustains the greatest share ; 

Yet joys in being guardian of his dust 

Until the resurrection of the just. 
The Boston News Letter of Monday, December 18, 1721, 
contained the following notice, under date Lynn, December 11 : 
" The last night the Honorable John Burrill, Esq., one of His 
Majesty's Council and one of the Judges of the Inferior Court 
of Common Pleas for the County of Essex, died of the small-pox, 
in the sixty-second year of his age. He had been for many 
years Speaker of the House of Representatives, and behaved 
himself in that chair with great integrity, modesty, and skill ; 
having a just and equal regard to the honor of the government 
and the liberty of the people ; so that he was highly esteemed 
and beloved by both. He was a man of true and exemplary 
piety and virtue, endowed with a very clear understanding, 
solid judgment, and sound discretion. And God made him a 
great blessing not only to his town and county, but to the whole 
province. Isaiah iii. 1 : * For behold, the Lord God of hosts 
doth take away from Judah the stay and the staff — the judge — 
and the prudent — the honorable — and the counsellor.'" 

Hutchinson graphically observes that the House were as fond 
of Mr. Burrill " as of their eyes." And he adds, in a note, " I 
have often heard his cotemporaries applaud him for his great 
integrity, his acquaintance with parliamentary forms, the dignity 
and authority with which he filled the chair, the order and de- 
corum he maintained in the debates of the House, his self-denial 
in remaining in the House, from year to year, when he might 
have been chosen into the Council, and saw others, who called 
him their father, sent there before him." And then follows 
the comparison with *' the right honorable person," before al- 
luded to. 

Mr. Burrill was an active member of the old church of Lynn. 



492 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

His early years were passed under the teachings of the godly 
Whiting, and through the long pastorate of Mr. Shepard, his 
serene presence adorned the sanctuary. He was liberal in his 
contributions; and in his will, made four days before his death, 
occurs this item : '' I give and bequeath to the Church of Christ 
in Lynn, forty pounds towards y" furnishing of y^ table of the 
Lord." And upon several articles of the consecrated plate may 
be seen engraved the Burrill coat-of-arms ; rather an ostenta- 
tious display, to be sure, but one for which the deceased donor 
is not to be held responsible. 



EBENEZER BURRILL. — 1679-1761. 

This Mr. Burrill was a younger brother of "the beloved 
Speaker," was quite eminent in his day, and distinguished as 
Honorable Ebenezer. He was born at Lynn, on the 13th of July, 
1679, was a son of John Burrill, known as Lieutenant John, who 
was a son of George Burrill, the first of the name who settled 
here, and who came in 1630. 

Mr. Burrill married Martha Farrington, and settled at Swamp- 
scot, on an estate given him by fiis father. The house in 
which he lived is still standing, on the beautiful grounds of E. 
K. Mudge, Esq., a few rods from his stone villa. And the writer 
may be pardoned for remarking that his inquiries regarding the 
Burrill family have been somewhat minute, partly from an indi- 
vidual pleasure in tracing family coixnections, as both his grand- 
mothers were granddaughters of the subject of this sketch — 
one a daughter of his son Ebenezer, and the other a daughter 
of his son Samuel. 

Mr. Burrill had ten children, viz: Ebenezer, (called Esquire,) 
born 6 February, 1702, who married Mary, daughter of General 
Mansfield, and had eleven children ; John, b. 24 February, 1705 
Martha, b. 21 April, 1707; Theophilus, born 21 May, 1709 ; Mary 
b. 31 July, 1711; Eunice, b. 27 October, 1713; Lois, b. 7 Au 
gust, 1715; Samuel, b. 1 April, 1717; Sarah, b. 15 April, 1719 
Lydia, b. 25 February, 1721. 

It would be interesting to follow somewhat at large the family 
connections of Mr. Burrill, did space permit. It was his sister 
Sarah, who married John Pickering of Salem, and became grand- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — EBENEZER BDRRILL. 493 

mother of Hon. Timothy Pickering. His son Ebenezer, distin- 
guished as Ebenezer, Esquire, was Town Clerk seventeen years, 
and a Representative twelve ; he, the son, lived in the house 
still standing at the northeast corner of Boston and Federal 
streets, and there, it is related, on one occasion, had the honor 
of the Governor's presence at dinner, while a couple of iron 
cannon, on Water Hill, continued to belch forth their respects. 
His son Samuel was a Representative during the Revolution, 
and a member of the Convention for forming the State Consti- 
tution. His grandson James, son of Ebenezer, Esquire, while a 
young man set up business as a tin-plate worker at Providence, 
R. I., became a prominent citizen, and was one of the original 
members of the Providence Association of Mechanics and Man- 
ufacturers, an association which still continues to flourish, and 
was chosen its president, in 1797, holding the office till 1809. He 
likewise represented Providence in the General Assembly, in 
1797. And this James was father of the Hon. James Burrill, 
who was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode 
Island, in 1816, and who was soon afterward distinguished as a 
United States Senator for that state, dying at Washington, on 
Christmas-day, 1820. Joseph, another son of Ebenezer, Esquire, 
and grandson of the subject of this sketch, settled at Newport, 
R. I. He was a tin-plate worker, and it was of him that his 
brother James learned his trade preparatory to commencing 
business for himself at Providence. And the family of this Jo- 
seph was one of great respectability. The wife of Hon. Henry 
Wheaton, LL. D,, was a granddaughter of his. One or two of 
the leading Salem families were connected with the Burrills, 
who were facetiously styled the royal family of Lynn. Micajah 
Burrill, who resided on Essex street, and died near the close 
of 1863, having been buried on the 10th of December, the very 
day on which he would have entered his hundredth year, was 
a grandson of Theophilus, the third son of the patriarch whom 
this sketch commemorates. 

Mr. Burrill died on the 6th of September, 1761. The inscrip- 
tion on his modest grave-stone is unassuming, compared with 
many on the tablets of that day, which are too often airy and 
high-sounding. But the dead should not be held responsible 
for the falsehoods and absurdities that are written above them. 
P2 



494 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

He was a man remarkable for sound judgment, benevolence, 
and activity in all useful enterprises, was six times chosen 
Representative, and was a Counsellor in 1731 and 1746. In 
1732 ho was entrusted with the settlement of important busi- 
ness with the Indians at Casco Bay. He possessed a large 
estate in lands, and was able to provide well for his numerous 
family. The inventory of his. estate indicates that he lived in 
very respectable style, and among his personal property may 
be found enumerated one Negro Slave, named Cesar. 

In looking up the facts regarding the Burrills, I found that 
many of the family themselves had but a confused idea of their 
ancestry — a kind of confusion, however, by no means peculiar 
to this family — arising, perhaps, in a great measure, from the 
intermingling of names. A recapitulatory line or two may, 
hence, be given. Lieutenant John, or John, senior^ was the first 
Burrill born in Lynn, and was a son of George, the early settler. 
Eonorahle John, or John, Jwrnor, and Honorable Ebenezer, (the 
subject of this sketch,) were brothers, and sons of Lieut. John. 
Ebenezer, Esquire, was a son of Hon. Ebenezer. . . . George, 
Lieut. John, and Hon. John lived at Tower Hill ; Hon. Ebene- 
2jer lived at Swampscot; Ebenezer, Esq, lived on Boston street, 
corner of Federal. . . . James, who settled in Rhode Island, 
and was father of the United States Senator, was a son of Ebe- 
nezer, Esq. John, another son of Ebenezer, Esq., was father 
of Ebenezer who settled in New York, and died there in 1839, 
and whose body, in accordance with his dying request, was 
brought to Lynn and buried in our Old Burying Ground ; he, 
the last named John, was also father of Thompson, who died 
here in 1842. The grave-stones of these worthies together 
with those of several other old members of the family, may be 
found in the southeastern part of the burial place just named. 
Considering what has been said in this brief sketch regarding 
family connections, a single remark, of a general nature, in clos- 
ing, may not be inappropriate. How few realize the important 
effect of marriage upon the destinies of a family, much less 
its effect upon the destinies of mankind. The greatest results, 
social, political, and religious, flow from the quiet operation of 
the matrimonial connection. In the history of the world may 
be found instance on instance wherein the union of a young 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — JACOB NEWHALL. 495 

man and young woman has accomplished momentous results, 
results which years and years of war and bloodshed could not 
effect. The genius of marriage is democratic ; it fovors no 
conventional distinctions ; but through the most thorough ming- 
ling of classes works out the happiest results. It was long 
since remarked in the French Academy that when a nation is 
on the decline, its strength and energy are to be found in the 
lower classes; and a true remark it was. The jaded mental 
faculties of the higher and educated class, need the physical 
[stamina and latent mental power of the unpampered hewer of 
wood and drawer of water. And the doom of a nation is 
sealed if God's great laws for the government of his human 
family are disregarded. 



JACOB NEWIIALL. — 1740-1816. 

This worthy member of one of our oldest families was for many 
years extensively and favorably known as Landlord Newhall. 
He was born in that part of Lynn now constituting Saugus, on 
the third of May, 1740, and was the son of Locker, a lineal 
descendant of Thomas Newhall, the first white person born in 
Lynn. 

A part of the early manhood of Mr. Newhall was spent in 
Cambridge, where he pursued the occupation of a husbandman, 
to which he was bred. But in or about the year 1774, he be- 
came proprietor of the celebrated tavern which stood on the 
old Boston road, a short distance west of Saugus river. This 
tavern was commenced at a very early period, and at one time 
flourished under the sign of an anchor, painted in blue, with 
the inscription " Blew Anchor." Many interesting facts con- 
cerning its history may be found in this volume. He succeeded 
Josiah Martin, a very eccentric individual, of whom something 
is said under date 1782, and who by his irregularities had some- 
what damaged the reputation of the house ; but who, though 
alleged to be an Englishman, being providentially seized by a 
burning desire to serve the country, enlisted and went off to 
the war, from which he never returned. 

Mr. Newhall kept the tavern during the Revolution; and it 
was conducted on that liberal scale which rendered it a real 



496 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

public benefit. He was an excellent provider, social in his 
habits, neat in his arrangements, and unwearied in his efforts to 
make his house an attractive traveler's home. The poor of 
bis neighborhood and the indigent wayfarer he freely relieved ; 
and to the sick and wounded soldier, his door was always open. 
In connection with the tavern, he carried on a farm ; and his 
business, on the whole, was quite extensive. It was not uncom- 
mon for an entire company of hungry soldiers, and not unknown 
for even a regiment to suddenly make their appearance and halt 
for a meal. To provide for such emergencies he kept on hand 
fatted oxen from which a suflScient number might be promptly 
slaughtered, the beef being at once disposed of in great boilers 
prepared expressly for the cooking, his large garden, which 
is represented to have comprised some six acres, furnishing the 
vegetable accompaniments. The whole establishment was kept 
under his immediate supervision ; and for some years he is said 
hardly ever to have retired to a bed to rest, but to have slept 
in an arm chair. 

Under the administration of Mr. Martin, and down to the 
commencement of the Revolution, a pictured lion and unicorn 
decorated the sign-board that swung from the ponderous oaken 
arm in front of the house. But Mr. Newhall, being an ardent 
patriot, substituted the more genial and hopeful emblem of a 
rising sun. And there, beneath that hospitable roof, counte- 
nanced by the benevolent spirit that presided, were enacted 
many and many a pleasant scene. The sleghing party on the 
winter night found blazing fires and smoking viands, sfnd a clean 
upper room for the sly dance ; and on all occasions of great 
parade the most ample provision was found. And the good 
cheer and cordial hospitality induced many a guest to linger on 
his way. It has been said, however, that there was one occasion 
on which the landlord's usual courtesy was not exemplified, an 
occasion when he manifested unwonted impatience for the de- 
parture of a considerable body of callers, mostly young men, 
armed with fowling pieces, and bound up the westward road. 
He freely supplied their wants, but refrained from any motion 
that might cause a moment's delay. It was on the morning of 
the battle of Bunker Hill. 

Mr. Newhall married Elizabeth Hodgkins, of Ipswich, on the 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — WILLIAM GRAY. 497 

21st of August, 1766, and had four sons and four daughters, 
viz: William, born 21 June, 1767, and dying in infancy; Eliza- 
beth, b. 21 May, 1768 ; William again, b. 10 December, 1769 ; 
Sarah, b. 7 August, 1777; Lydia, b. 24 December, 1778; Jacob, 
b. 1 November, 1780; Lucy, b. 26 July, 1782; Joseph, b. 28 
November, 1783. 

Landlord Newhall kept the tavern till 1807; and notwith- 
standing the business was remarkably successful, his benevo- 
lence prevented any great accumulation of property, and he 
continued to labor industriously, as a farmer, till old age. He 
died on the 18th of June, 1816, at the age of seventy-six. The 
late Benjamin F. Newhall, for many years one of the most active 
and prominent citizens of Saugus, and well known for his nume- 
rous contributions to the public journals was a grandson of his. 



WILLIAM GRAY. — 1750-1825. 

Perhaps, taking all things into view, the most widely known, 
highly accomplished, and successful merchant that New England 
ever produced, was William Gray, almost univerally known un- 
der the familiar though rather inelegant contraction of " Billy " 
Gray. He was born at Lynn, on that part of Water Hill now 
called Marion street, on the 27th of June, 1750. The house in 
which he was born is still standing, and known by our older 
people as the Dr. Elagg house, being the one at the eastern end 
of the street, directly opposite where it bends into Boston 
street. 

The family of Mr. Gray settled here at an early period, though 
his ancestors were not among the first comers. At the time 
William was born, his grandfather, whose name was likewise 
William, was one of the only three individuals in Lynn who 
carried on the shoe business so extensively as to employ jour- 
neymen. (See under date 1750.) His father, whose name was 
Abraham, was a shoemaker, and frequently visited Salem, where 
he had numerous customers to whom he took the products 
of his handicraft, in saddle-bags. The family of Mr. Derby, 
into whose counting-room William subsequently entered, were 
among the customers. 

Abraham Gray afterward removed to Salem, where he was for 
P2* 32 



498 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

many years deacon of the First Church. He took "William, who 
was then quite young, with him ; and that was the termination 
of his residence in Lynn, though he ever retained an interest in 
his native place, and maintained business connections with her 
people. For forty years he supplied the manufacturers and 
dealers here with large quantities of Russia sheeting, which 
was at the time much used in the manufacture of shoes. 

His constitution was naturally feeble, and he inherited the 
melancholy trait of consumption. Salem, at that time, had the 
reputation of being a very unfavorable locality for those having 
a tendency to the insidious disease just named ; but the tem- 
perate life and active habits of young Gray protected him from 
the destroyer. Although perhaps every feature of his face, 
taken separately, would be pronounced homely, yet his whole 
countenance glowed with such an invariable and attractive 
smile, and his bright gray eyes expressed such integrity of soul 
and goodness of heart, that he was usually considered handsome. 
No one who has contemplated the perfect portrait of him by 
Stuart, can fail to recognize the likeness of one of dignity and 
fine presence ; it is indeed a picture that might well immortalize 
both artist and subject. In stature, he was rather below than 
above the medium size, but symmetrical. 

The precocity of young Gray, soon after his removal to Salem 
attracted the notice of Samuel Gardner, then a prominent mer- 
chant of the place, who offered to receive him as an apprentice. 
His father asked what compensation would be allowed, and to 
his surprise was answered that six guineas could be taken with 
the best apprentice in the country, but that William would be 
taken without a bonus. He very soon found himself in the best 
graces of Mr. Gardner; a trivial incident, happening soon after 
the apprenticeship began, doing much to effect this. He had 
broken the store window by his ball, and very ingenuously con- 
fessed the fact, proving, at the same time, that his apparent ne- 
glect to repair was attributable to the broken promise of a glazier. 
His truthfulness was warmly applauded, and a new suit of clothes 
given as a reward. And the good merchant continued to clothe 
him as long as he remained. A rigid adherence to Truth was 
one of the most prominent characteristics of Mr. Gray. He 
worshiped her. After leaving Mr. Gardner he entered the em- 



^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — WILLIAM GRAY. 499 

ploy of Richard Derby, another eminent merchant of Salem ; 
and there he perfected himself in all that was necessary for the 
commencement of his own illustrious mercantile career. So far 
as school education was concerned, however, he never received 
any thing beyond what the district school afforded. 

Mr. Gray married Elizabeth, daugliter of John Chipman, of 
Marblehead, though not, as I was many years ago informed by 
an old lady who was intimate in the family, without some oppo- 
sition from her friends, his prospects, at the time, not appearing 
Bufficient to satisfy their expectations. 

The enterprise and good fortune of Mr. Gray did much to 

promote the general prosperity of Salem, though Lynn was not 

barren of benefits. The following epigram, which I believe was 

the production of John Prince, the lawyer, very pleasantly 

touches the matter of a good-natured rivalry. 

Salem and Lynn for Gray's birth now contest ; 
Lynn gains the palm, but Salem fares the best. 

Though sometimes interesting, it is in a degree profitless, 
while considering the life of an individual, high or low, to spec- 
ulate as to what he might have been, under other circumstances ; 
yet it seem worthy of remark that had Mr. Gray's constitution 
been a healthy one, it is not unlikely that he would have spent 
his days as a shoemaker, at Lynn, for I am assured by one who 
knew him well, that his father attempted to learn him the trade, 
but gave it over on perceiving that it wore upon his health. 

In or about the year 1808, Mr. Gray removed to Boston, and 
there greatly enlarged his business ; and in a few years he was 
reckoned the wealthiest man in the Commonwealth, if not in 
all New England. He possessed the manners of a gentleman, 
and was highly respected for his many virtues. Toward all 
those in his employ, who served him faithfully, he was accus- 
tomed to act with the utmost generosity. The masters of some 
of his vessels were retained from twenty to thirty years. And 
during the continuance of the embargo, many had reason to be 
grateful for his efficient aid in procuring employment when 
their legitimate calling could not be pursued. And a few of his 
cotemporaries yet remaining in Lynn, cherish a grateful remem- 
brance of his friendly acts. He was liberal to the poor, and 
made large donations for charitable purposes. 



500 HISTOEY OF LYNN. 

But it must not be supposed that the life of Mr. Gray was one 
of uniform success. He met with reverses ; but bore them with 
a fortitude commensurate with his dignity as a man, and furnish- 
ing a most excellent example for others in similar circumstances. 
Under the Decrees of Bonaparte he lost many vessels ; but it is 
to be presumed that his heirs received some remuneration 
from the French government, under the energetic administration 
of General Jackson. 

Mr. Gray was elected Lieutenant Governor, in 1810 and con- 
tinued in office two years. He also held divers other offices, 
wherein his promptness and sound judgment rendered his ser- 
vices of great value. He was a Federalist in political sentiment, 
and at times showed some activity as a politician. 

He died at Boston, on the third of November, 1825. His 
sons were, William R., Henry, John C, Francis C, and Horace. 
And the family continues to maintain the highest respectability. 
His only daughter, Lucia, married Col. Samuel Swett, who is 
still living, though she died some years since. Rev. William 
Gray Swett, the much beloved pastor of the Unitarian Society 
in Lynn, from January 1, 1840 to the time of hia decease, Feb- 
ruary 15, 1843, was born of this marriage. 



MICAJAH COLLINS. — 1764-1827. 
Mr. Collins was born on the 19th of April, 1764, and was a 
son of Enoch Collins. He received a fair education, and for 
more than a quarter of a century was teacher of the Friends' 
school here, ever retaining the respect of the parents and affec- 
tion of the pupils. His ministerial labors were approved by 
the Society for nearly forty years, and he was well known and 
highly respected in the many parts of the United States, into 
which he journeyed. He married Hannah Chase, of Salem, but 
had no children. The last moments of his life are represented 
to have displayed, in a marked degree, the true characteristics 
of the dying Christian. Many friends and neighbors assembled 
around his bed, and in kind words he dealt to them admonitions 
and encouragements, and expressed his own assurance of a 
blessed immortality. Then he took each individual by the 
hand and bade all an affectionate farewell. Like the setting 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — MICAJAH COLLINS. 501 

of a summer sun, he gently passed away, without a murmur or 
a sigh. His death took place on the 30th of January, 1827. 

One or two extracts from a poetic tribute to the memory of 
Mr. Collins, are here introduced, a tribute which originally ap- 
peared in the Newport (R. I.) Mercury, and was penned by 
Rev. Enoch Mudge, another of the devoted sons of Lynn — the 
insertion here answering the double purpose of celebrating the 
virtues of one worthy native and affording a specimen of the 
poetic ability of another — besides presenting the grateful spec- 
tacle of a warm remembrance of an early friendship. Though 
i;iP very striking conception is, perhaps, apparent in the lines, 
they yet exhibit, with such clearness, the growth of grace in the 
renewed heart, and its effect on the inward and outward life, 
and are withal imbued with such a reverence for virtue, that 
they possess a substantial value. Didactic poetry, however, in 
these days, finds but little favor, whatever may be i<-« rl^o-rps 
of excellence. 

I kuew him when in giddy rounds of mirth 
He sought for happiness in things of earth; 
When the light mmd with buoyant feelings soared, 
And for dehght forbidden things explored. 
Quenched were the sacred sparks of holy truth, 
Impressed upon him in his early youth, 
When the young airy mind widi heightened glee 
Was from restraint hard struggling to be free. 
Bewitching pleasure then allured his mind; 
In them content he vainly sought to find. 
But found it not! — till he who came to call 
The wanderer back from sin, and guilt, and thrall, 
Spake to his soul ; the quickening power he felt, 
Which caused his hard, obdurate heart to melt. 
Pungent and deep was keen conviction's dart! 
Then godly sorrow pained the broken heart ! 
But the good Shepherd, by his tender care, 
Soothed all his fears, and saved him fiom despair; 
And gently led him by alluring grace 
In the sweet paths of righteousness and peace. 
A sacred calm ensued within his breast, 
And now the wanderer found a place of rest; 
New objects of pursuit inspired his mind, 
And purifying love his soul refined. 
The friends of youth he now delights to meet, 
And sit like Mary at his Master's feet ; 



502 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

And tender sympathy, by grace inspired, 
And love of truth his placid bosom fu-ed. 

* * # 

In temper open, amiable, and mild. 
In manners simple, trusting as a child ; 
He to the youth a pleasing pattern gave. 
Of access easy, pious, cheei'ful, grave ; 
All classes felt an interest in the man. 
For innocence through all his actions ran. 
Long as an able minister he stood, 
And spent his lengthened life in doing good ; 
At home, abroad, the humble Christian shone, 
While all the oraise he gave to God alone. 



SOLOMON MOULTON.— 1808-1827. 

This young man, for he was but nineteen years of age at the 
time of his decease, gave promise of doing much honor to his 
native place. His poetical ability was by no means inconsider- 
able. He was born on the 7th of January, 1808, and was the 
son of Joseph Moulton, who lived on Boston street. His uncle, 
John Lillie Moulton, who resided on Market street, in a house 
which stood on the west side, a few rods south of Summer, 
and who, in partnership with John Alley, 3d, kept a store, on 
the same street, at the corner of Munroe, having no children 
of his own, adopted him, and he kept in the store a part of the 
time. 

The constitution of young Moulton was not naturally firm, 
and for many months immediately preceding his death, which 
was by consumption, his health was such that he was unable to 
continuously pursue any laborious occupation. When Mr. Lum- 
mus, the first printer in Lynn, opened his ofiice, Mr. Moulton 
formed an acquaintance with him, which continued as long as 
he lived. He was much in the office and assisted in various 
ways. And it was in Mr. Lummus's paper, The Weekly Mirror, 
that most of his published pieces appeared. 

He was highly esteemed for his openness and generosity of 
disposition ; and won the respect and afiection of those about 
him by his fidelity to tlie higher instincts and better sympa- 
thies of our nature. He wrote many pieces in verse, which 
appeared under the signature of " Lillie," some of which were 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — SOLOMON MOULTON. 503 

well worthy of being preserved in substantial form. Many of 
his writings were of that plaintive cast which somehow seems 
to foreshadow an early departure. A passage or two from a 
poem of about a hundred lines, entitled. " The Burial," are 
here given, as a fair specimen of his style and execution ; and 
it will probably be agreed that some of the lines would add 
grace to many a pretentious and popular poem. In one situ- 
ated as Mr. Moulton was — dependent in circumstances, with 
few advantages of education, and in imperfect health — an early 
development of the choicest powers could hardlj' be looked for. 
And we are inclined to utter a lament in the words of one of 
his own lines : 

" Alas ! too soon cut down by cruel Death." 
But yet it may be unwise to speculate as to what might have 
been. He died on the 26th of May, 1827. 

It was a mikl and lovely day in autumn ; 
Eartli bore the marks of witherinf^ frost ; 
The winds had sung their desolating dirge 
O'er lovely Flora's wintry grave, 
And formed her death-robe of the yellow leaves. 
But still a melancholy loveliness, 
A pleasing sweetness, hung around the scene. 
The sun was fast descending from his proud 
Meridian tlirone in heaven's blue concave high. 
I had been called a solemn office to perform — 
'T is the last rite tliat man can do for man, 
When life is o'er, with kind and gentle hand 
To lay his brother's body in the grave — 
And here it was a fair and lovely child, 
.Whose angel form was now by youthful hands 
Unto the silent grave soon to be borne ; 
Alas ! too soon cut down by cruel Death. 
« * # 

The heart of woman injur}' can brook; 
Ay, heap disgrace upon her precious name ; 
Brand her a wretched outcast from the world ; 
Let the euvenom'd darts of slander pierce 
And rend her lovely breast — take from her all, 
Yes, all that renders life most dear to man ; 
But leave her tender offspring to her care; 
Give this, her last and most endearing boon, 
And still she '11 bless you for that dearest gift. 



504 HISTORY OF LYNi 

Soon and the funeral ti-ain were at the grave ; 
Gently we laid the bier upon the earth, 
And then with trembling hands the coffin lowered 
Lito its dark and silent home. But when 
The cold, dank clods of earth with deadening sound 
Resounded fi-om the grave, deep were the sighs 
That rent a mother's agonizing breast ; 
For now the scene with all its withering force 
Had burst afresh upon her grief-worn mind. 
I saw her standing by tjie lowly grave. 
When the smooth, grass-grown clod o'er it was placed. 
The work was finished, and she gave a last 
And tender look toward the hallowed spot. 
Then joined the silent train and moved away. 
'T is past — but still the scene on memory's page 
Is lettered deep ; and oft in pensive mood. 
Whene'er my feet in yonder grave-yard stray, 
I stop to muse upon that well known grave. 

Though our young friend wrote chiefly in verse, he occa- 
sionally gave expression to his thoughts in what is called poetic 
prose. And perhaps the following is as fair a specimen of his 
composition in the latter form as can be found. 

MORNING. 
There is a soul-exalting hour. 
And sweetly sootjiing is its power; 
'T is when, wide o'er the spreading lawn, 
Is ushei'ed in the early dawn. 
If there is one time in the day more beautiful than another, more suited to 
the mind that «an dwell with delight on the works of nature, and discover the 
impress of the Creator in every leaf and every flower — that time is morning. 
To the contemplative mind the morning walk affords an ample field for the 
observance and investigation of the numerous works of the divine Creator 
which at every step, in pleasing and almost endless variety, are presented to 
our view. It is in the morning that the mind, freed from the vexatious cai-es 
that are attendant on the more busy concerns of the day, 

Views Nature's works, thi-oughout sublime, 
Unchanging still, through endless time. 
And renders homage to the God 
Who formed tliem by his potent rod. 

Tliere is a deep moral sublimity in the scene which the mornmg affords. 
And how congenial it is to be seated on the summit of some commanding 
eminence, whence to view the pale moon, just lingering in the west, as if 
pausing to bid "Good morning," to die more resplendent luminary on whom 
she is dependent for her light ; to view the last faint gleam of a few lingering 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — MARIA AUGUSTA FULLER. 505 

stars, as they graduall}' grow dim, and disappear; to hear, in the holy calm- 
ness of tlie hour when the busy hum of men is only remembered as a thing 
of yesterday, tlie rich melody of Nature's songsters, as on never tiring wing 
they soar aloft in heaven's blue concave. In such an, hour as this, the mind is 
insensibly led to deep devotional contemplation. While we view the works 
of the Creator, we are naturally led to meditate on the Creator himself. And 
from the volume of Nature, wide spread before us, we may draw lessons of 
uistruction far superior to the narrow tenets of the studied theologian. 



MARIA AUGUSTA FULLER. — 180&-1831. 

Mr. Lewis has said of Miss Fuller, that she " was, perhaps, 
the most talented and imaginative female which Lynn has pro- 
duced." She was undoubtedly a young lady of rare endowment. 
Accustoming herself, at an early age, to the use of the pen, 
she was enabled to produce, while still young, many charming 
pieces, in prose and poetry, which found their way into the 
newspapers. She displayed a fine fancy, mingled with dignity 
of thought, and a lively appreciation of natural beauty. 

She was born at Lynn on the 9th of December, 1806, and was 
-a daughter of Hon. Joseph Fuller, who was born on Water Hill, 
March 29, 1772, and died at the age of 42. He was the first 
Senator from Lynn, having been elected in 1812, and was like- 
wise a Representative, for six terms. His business was exten- 
sive. When Mechanics Bank went into operation, in 1814, he 
was chosen its president; but he died the next year. He built 
the southmost dwelling at the point formed by the junction of 
Union and Broad streets, and there resided. 

Her grandfather Fuller was also named Joseph. He was 
born in 1748, and died at the age of 82. He was a farmer, and 
owned the farm at the western extremity of Water Hill, where 
he resided. He was somewhat eccentric, but a man of integrity 
and influence ; was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, 
in 1820; and could write with considerable ability, though in- 
chned to be more pungent than courteous. He loved contro- 
versy, and was at one time engaged in a newspaper warfare 
with Rev. Mr. Thacher. 

Miss Fuller died on the 19th of January, 1831, at the early 
age of twenty-four. She was never married, but at the time 
of her decease was aflSanced to a gentleman who is now a min- 
Q2 



506 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

ister in the Calvinistic Baptist connection, though at that time 
he was an active member of the Unitarian Society here. Her 
manners were gentle and fascinating in the extreme ; her edu- 
cation was good; and she was fitted to elicit admiration in the 
most refined society. Her harp was usually attuned to plaintive 
themes, and it seemed as if she ever entertained a latent premo- 
nition of an early death. Yet there were occasions on which 
a playful and even frolicksome nature would assert itself Her 
chosen signature was " Finella." And one or two specimens 
of her writing follow. The prose article was published when 
she was twenty-one years of age, and certainly exhibits a rich- 
ness and breadth of fancy, a versatility and discipline of thought, 
which can only characterize one possessing far more than ordi- 
nary gifts. The lines entitled " The Frosted Trees," are the 
concluding portion of a piece, dated January 1, 1830, and as will 
be perceived, very pleasantly allude to Mr. Lewis's well-known 
poem under the same title — which may be found in this volume, 
under date 1829 — which had just then appeared in the Token. 
We have in them clear evidence that she possessed a lively wit ; 
but it was refined, and never turned to the degenerate purposes 
of satire. The piece entitled " To the Loved Departed," ap- 
peared about ten days before her death. And the lines " To a 
Sea Bird," were found among the papers, she left. They are 
all worthy of an attentive perusal ; indeed they are too full of 
thought and unobtrusive beauties to be appreciated by the 
mere surface reader. Such a mind as hers cannot fail to have 
a refining and elevating influence in any society; and when one 
Like her departs tears may fall as for a public bereavement, 
though there may be none to spare when the mere daughter 
of fashion departs. 

THOTJGHTS. 

There are moments when the mind is free from all uneasiness, the spirits 
from all excitement; when the stream of thought ceases to flow on, and 
remains calm and unruffled, waiting for a new impulse to turn its waters into 
other channels — or sometimes stagnates into indolence. The early part of a 
winter evening is the veiy time for such an undefinable state of mind. I was 
myself sinking into it one evening, after having attended to sundry little par- 
ticulars, such as arranging two or three chairs, which clianced to be a little 
awiy, placing the andirons in exactly parallel lines, and blowing from the 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — MARIA AUGUSTA FULLER. 507 

hearth a quantity of white ashes which the movements had precipitated to it. 
Now, the fantastic motions of tlie bhize amused mc, shooting up into steeples, 
like the picture of an old abbey, or wreathing in red folds around a fresh piece 
of fuel. The coals, too, lying m red glowing masses, seemed to smile upon 
me, as I sat watching their changes, and forming H's and P's of the interstices 
in the back-log. I was awakened from my pleasing employment, by the sud- 
den falling of a brand, whose curling wreaths of smoke ascended, in most 
unwelcome incense, to my face. Hastily adjusting it, I fled to the window, 
and there contemplated a scene by no means new or extraordinary, but whose 
quiet loveliness opened a new and corres[)onding train of ideas and fancies. 
The moon shone ui)on the snowy hill-top, and threw a broad sheet of light 
upon the water, crowning each little billow with a sparkling coronet. She 
is, I believe, a sonnet-inspiring })lanet, and somehow associated in the mind 
with the " lunatic, the lover, and the poet." Though belonging to neither of 
these classes, I must still acknowledge her influence in inspiring thoughts .ind 
" thick coming fancies." 

As my eye ranged over the prospect before me, I was insensibly led to con- 
trast its present appearance with what it might have been two centuries ago. 
I seemed to behold tiie dark forests covering the hills and plains — the coast 
curving naturally round, or broken into points and headlands, where now the 
stiff squares, wharves, or artificial banks, proclaim that a civilized people reside 
here. In this veiy spot, thought I, the Indian bent his bow against the wild 
beast of the forest; or here, perhaps, the Indian girl might have stood, listen- 
ing for the sound of tlie returning oars of an absent brother or lover. A speck 
appeared among the waves — it seemed the light canoe of the savage, bound- 
ing to land. 

Wliat dreams of light and beauty might have filled the soul of that Indian 
girl ; in what clear tones might the harmonies of nature have sounded their 
sublime truths to her ear. She heard the voice of the Spirit she worshiped, 
in the sea, in the tliunder, and in the wind. She poured fbrdi her rejoicing 
songs with the birds, and the anthem of her deeply felt gratitude might have 
gone up to the throne with as much acceptance as if accompanied by swell- 
ing organ tones, and echoed back by marble temple walls instead of rocks 
and hills. She might have read His purity and goodness in the wild flowers 
of the wood, in the wide and grand scenes around her, in her own happy and 
free existence, and tlie existence of all the joyous creation she beheld. Untu- 
tored, unacquainted with the thoughts of others, or the wisdom stored in the 
pages of antiquity, she might have possessed intuitive powers, of which we 
know nothing; pure rills of thought, gushing in beauty, amid solitude and 
silence ; realms of fancy, brighter than we can imagine. 

Or here, perhaps, the tree of peace may have thrown out its strong branches, 
and nations may have assembled around it; warriors may have smoked the 
calumet in its shade. The same moon and stars looked upon them, which 
are now shining on me ; the sound of the mighty rush of the ocean fell on 
their ears as it now falls on mine. Years have glided silently by, and where 
are they ? Tlie dust reveals not the spot where a nation of proud hearts have 



508 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

iningled with it. Tlie maiden, the hunter, have long since gone to their rest 
The wave of existence in which they were particles has rolled away, and its 
sound died upon the air. Surely our country is full of poetical associations. 
Have we no Ossian to behold the spirit of the warrior on our misty hills ? — to 
sing the forgotten glories of a departed race? The bustle of a strange people 
is going on in the land of their fathers. 

There is a tinge of melancholy in such reflections; and when the mind 
glances forward to succeeding ages, and a sense of our own brief course amid 
these changes of being comes in its reality over the soul, we wonder at the 
eagerness with which we pursue its trifles, and resolve to chase them no more. 
The whole human family then appear to us as brethren, and the wider our 
survey extends through the past and future, the more are we impressed with 
the folly of those jarring interests which take away the warm and holy dispo- 
sitions of our hearts, and embitter those waters of life which were intended to 
flow on in fragi-ance and sweetness through their short course. We arise 
fi-om such reflections with renewed desires to dispense our own small measure 
of happiness around — that though we and the generation to which we belong 
pass away and are forgotten, our life may be a summer of joy, and our deatl 
but the welcome entrance into a new and more glorious existence. 

THE FROSTED TREES. 
Spring, Summer, and Autumn ! what witching chai'ms, 

Ye wear to the poet's eye ! 
Ye pour forth your wealth to his raptured gaze 

As ye pass so swiftly by. 
But Winter comes with his scowling skies, 

And rudely piping wind ; 
What beauty or music to waken song, 

Can the wandering poet find ? 

Lo ! the earth is sown with precious pearls. 

And the flashing diamond shines. 
And gems that glistened far down in the sea. 

Or gleamed in the dismal mines. 
And the graceful boughs like rainbows bend. 

And spirits are resting there. 
Having veiled the light of theu* radiant forms, 

In the blue of the mantling an-. 

O ! rare, beyond the alchymist's skill. 

The spell the poet doth hold, 
For by it the snow and icicle, 

Aro changed to gems and gold ; 
And the ice-girt boughs to dazzling thrones. 

And the folds of the vapor dim 
Are white-robed angels, whose stany wings 

Ai'e revealed to none but him. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — MARIA AUGUSTA FULLER. 509 

TO THE LOVED DEPARTED. 

Ye Spirits of tlie Dead ! 

All ! whitlier are ye fled ? - 
Mid the dim fields of space where do ye roam? 

O, that through the deep gloom, 

That gathers o'er the tomb, 
Some ray of light might shine from your far distant home. 

Where is the beaming smile, 

That lighted, for a while, 
Our weaiy feet along life's cloudy way? 

Tlie voice, wliose lightest words 

Thrilled the soul's silent chords. 
Till the deep hidden strings grew tuneful from its sway. 

We watched your parting breath, 

We saw the chill of death 
Blanch the fresh cheek, and fix the glazing eye; 

Shade upon shade fell deep. 

Of that mysterious sleep, 
Mantling all that remained — fearful mortality! 

We know those forms must change ; 

Perchance amid the range 
Of varied forms of beauty, ye may live 

Li fragrant springing flowers, 

Fairest in forest bowers ; 
Such loveliness to dust renewing power can give. 

Where shall we go to find ? — 

Hath the dull earth enshrined 
That smile? — or doth it beam in the sunlin-ht. 

Dwell with the rainbow's hues. 

Or mid morn's sparkling dews, 
The moonlight pale, or stars that cheer the silent night? 

That tone have we not heard. 

When sang spring's earliest bird ? 
Or when the winds awaked the warbling lyre? 

In murmurs of the waves, 

O'er their deep ocean caves ? ' 

The whispermg wood? — each voice of nature's varied choir? 

Hath the light ceased to bum ? 

Shall not that tone return 
To cheer us as we tread our pathway lone ? 

The spark that lit the whole. 

That thought, that loved — the soul! 
There is a mourning void — where has the spkif gone? 
Q2* 



510 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

Trust, doubting spirit, trust, 

When this enclosing dust 
Thou shalt, upspriuging, from thee cast away ; 

When, with new eye and ear, 

Thou shalt both see and hear, 
That smile ^ that gentle tone — shall greet thee on that day! 

There, mingling with the rays 

Of the eternal blaze, 
The welcome beam again shall bless thine eye ; 

And where hosannas ring. 

When l)lessed spirits sing. 
The well-remembered tone shall sound, no more to die ! 

Thou Sun of Righteousness! 

Thy rays can wai-m and bless 
E'en the chill cloud that gathers o'er the grave; 

Till its dark folds grow bright. 

Changed to a robe of light! 
O ! shine on us, bright Povver ! to heal us, and to save. 

TO A SEA BIRD. 

Why hast thou left thy ocean home ? 

What seek'st thou here with wandering wing? 
Thou loved'st the bounding wave, the foam ; 

Thou would'st not love the bowers of spring. 

The land birds, in their gilded plumes, 
Tune forth their songs from eveiy stem, — 

With wild, sad notes, and dull hued wings, 
Thou may'st not come to dwell with them. 

In our green woods the scented flowers 
Look pure as shells in thine own sea, 

And blue lakes slumber, fountains gush, — 
But these can have no charms for thee. 

Back to thy native home ! behold ! 

Yon pink and purple clouds have thrown 
Upon its calm, unrippled breast. 

Colors scarce fainter than their own. 

And see thy mates — how swiftly o'er 
The mirrored watei-s now they glide ; 

Their white wings take the roseate dyes. 
And shine reflected in the tide. 



I 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — CHARLES F. LUMMUS. 511 

Still onward, onward ! wonld'st thou seek , 

Those hillowy clouds far in the west? 
Mid their briglit waves perchance thou dream'st 

Thy weary, toilsome wing may rest. 

For thou hast seen the strong wind sweep 

All beauty from the changing sea, 
And leave for all yon loveliness, 

A terrible deformity. ' 

Methinks e'en now thy sad voice calls 

In vain upon thy hapless mate — 
Ah ! wreck'd and lost — for thee and her 

The welcome calm has come too'late. 

And thou hast left in weariness, 

Tiie lone sea for the lonelier air 
Seek not earth's bowers, or clouds, for peaco ; 

Alas ! thou wilt not find it there. 

Know thou, the green, sun-lighted earth 

Thou passest o'er with wing so free, 
Holds many a prisoner, who would joy, 

Could they but fly away with thee. 

For darker than the ocean storm. 

O'er joy's soft mora doth sorrow close, 
And woe-worn mortals seek like thee, 

A calmer haven of repose. 

But not like thee in vain. For them, 

More glorious than the clouds of even, 
A realm of joy and bliss appears — 

An isle of rest — a promised heaven. 



CHARLES FREDERIC LUMMUS. — 1801-1838. 

Mr. Lummns Avas born on the 17th of August, 1801, and was 
one of the ten children of Dr. Aaron Lummus, who was a pop- 
ular physician among us for nearly fifty years. His education 
was as good as could be procured at the common schools of 
the day; and when at the proper age, he entered the printing 
oflSce of Lincoln and Edmands, in Boston, to learn his trade. 

He grew up to be a remarkably intelligent and companionable 
young man, though his natural eccentricities would not unfre- 
quently assert themselves in a manner not the most agreea- 



512 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

ble. He was for many years an intimate friend of Mr. Liewis, 
•who, on his decease, paid the following comprehensive though ' 
brief tribute to his memory. " He was an excellent musician, 
and a choice spirit. Few young men in Lynn were ever more 
extensively beloved or more deserved to be. But thou art 
dead ! ' Alas ! poor Yorick ! ' Thine is a loss to be thought 
about, and thou shalt long live in our love." 

Mr. Lummus was never married ; which was a little remarka- 
ble, considering his fondness for refined female society, and 
considering that it was his own conviction that a suitable mat- 
rimonial connection would add much to his happiness. But the 
slender income afforded by his business, no doubt operated to 
the discouragement of an attempt in that direction. It has been 
said, however, that an early disappointment led to a determina- 
tion never to wed. 

After concluding his apprenticeship, he worked in Boston, 
as a journeyman, a year or two, and then returned to Lynn, bring- 
ing a second-hand Ramage press, and a small quantity of second- 
hand type. His next step was to issue his paper, the prospectus 
of which had been before the public, for some time. And on 
Saturday, the third of September, 1825, the Lynn Weekly 
Mirror made its debut — the first newspaper ever printed 
in the town. Its appearance was certainly not brilliant, either 
in an intellectual or a mechanical way, measured, at least, by 
the publications of the present time. There were but nineteen 
lines of editorial matter in the whole paper. And there was no 
greeting to the public, nor allusion, in any shape, to the pros- 
pects, plans, or expectations of the publisher. An original tale 
occupied five of the little columns, and an orginal poem, filled 
another. Mr. Lewis, I think, wrote both of these. Three or 
four advertisements appeared on the third page ; and the rest 
of the paper was made up of news items and short extracts. 
The four pages of the sheet — that is the printed part — were 
each a fraction less than nine inches by eleven in size ; the type 
was much worn, the ink poor, the paper coarse and dingy. 
The size of the type was long primer — a type one size smaller 
than that from which this page is printed — excepting about one 
column of brevier and two of pica. And, on the whole, the 
expectant Dublic can hardly be charged with undue fastidious- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — CHARLES F. LUMMUS. 513 

ness for failing to bestow very high encomiums on this new-born 
child of the press. Mr. Lummus told me, among other things, 
while recounting the experiences of that eventful period, that 
he sent a copy to the New England Galaxy, then under the 
charge of Mr. Buckingham, requesting an exchange, but re- 
received his own back, with the second e in the word Weekly, 
changed to an A. The fifth number appeared in a somewhat 
enlarged form. The same width of column was preserved, but 
some five inches were added to the length, making a paper of 
much better shape. But this was done without boasting or any 
flourish of trumpets. There was not a line of editorial on the 
subject; nor was there, indeed, a line on any subject, in that 
number. Two of the columns were in pica — a type one size 
larger than that from which this page is printed — and the use of 
that large type was continued, to some extent, for a long time, he 
the publisher, taking all suitable opportunities to gravely assure 
his readers that it was for the benefit of the aged people whose 
eyes were dim ; and many thanks did he receive for his kindness. 
The Mirror was first printed in a small wooden building that 
stood on the west side of Market street, just where Tremont 
street now opens. But in four or five years the office was 
removed to another small building, at the west end of the Com- 
mon, the most active business of the town at that time being 
centered there. 

For a considerable time the Mirror could boast of but little in 
quantity, in an editorial Avay, though what there was, was very 
good in quality ; and it soon became a ver}' readable paper ; for 
as the proprietor gathered confidence and became more expe- 
rienced, he displayed most excellent taste and judgment in his 
selections. He had an open eye for the substantial and useful 
as well as the exciting and entertaining, and was diligent in 
looking up matters of local interest. And his brief remarks 
■v^ere often strikingly comprehensive. He seldom attempted 
an article more than a square or tv\'o in length, and was never 
guilty of spreading over half a column what might just as well 
be expressed in twenty lines. His first anxiety was to get at 
the " nub," as he expressed it. And he took full liberty with 
the productions of correspondents, sometimes mercilessly pru- 
ning out what to them seemed the grandest passages; and 

33 



514 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

•when they complained, the ready answer was, " There 's no 
nub to it." 

Mr. Liimmus was very social in his disposition ; was ac- 
quainted with every body ; was an accomplished musician, and 
Bomething of a military man. He likewise interested himself 
in political affairs but was too honest to gain a reputation for 
stability as a partisan. In all intellectual and recreative enter- 
prises, from the dignified lyceum to the jovial chowder party, 
he was ready and active, and hence frequently found himself in 
a situation where he was able to pick up matter for useful or 
amusing '' squizzles," as he termed his short articles. And he 
was able in a short time to gather around him quite a number 
of very acceptable correspondents. Indeed it was in the little 
columns of the Mirror that the beautiful effusions and essays 
of Lillie, Finella, and Curtin first appeared — to say nothing 
of the constant contributions of Lewis and others. 

Mr. Lummus earned for himself the popular nickname of 
"Philosopher," in a rather amusing manner. Lawyer Gates — 
of whom something is said under date 1852 — being in the oflSce 
one day, abruptly inquired — " Charles, what does the F. in 
your name stand for?" "Philosopher," was the instantaneous 
response. The ready wit set so well on the old gentleman 
that he at once gave currency to the self-bestowed sobriquet. 

He had a strange propensity to frequently change the ap- 
pearance of his paper. Every little while his sheet would appear, 
perhaps with a new head, a different wndth of column, or some 
fanciful display of ornamental type. His means were limited, 
and his office but poorly supplied with materials. An ancient 
Ramage press, which looked as if Franklin might have worked 
at it, a small font of second-hand long primer, a little brevier, 
and a very few little fonts of small ornamental letter, with a 
case of pica and a few pounds of great primer, were almost 
every thing he had. His three stands were so aged as to totter 
on their legs, and his galleys were warped or cracked. The 
only large type in the office, for years, were two or three alpha- 
bets of four line pica antique capitals, which served for the 
heading of handbills, and at one time for the heading of his 
paper. With such a fitting out, he could not, of course, be 
expected to turn out any very elegant specimens of the art. But 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — CHARLES F. LUMMUS. 515 

at that time such displays in job printing as are now made, were 
not thought of. In March, 1832, the writer purchased of him 
his whole establishment, for two hundred dollars, paying quite 
as much as it was worth. He had, however, in the mean time, 
procured a small font of new long primer, and sent off the old 
press, hiring a small iron one. 

As to the success of the Mirror, it may in brief be stated 
that small returns rewarded hard labor. The number of sub- 
scribers was about four hundred — sometimes running a little 
below, but seldom above. The amount of work in the ofBce — 
jobs, newspaper and all — could be done by the publisher and 
one hand. But at first, in a corner of his office, and afterward 
in a separate room, Mr. Lummus kept a shop with a small stock 
of stationary and fancy articles, such as are usually sold in a 
country book store. A few musical instruments likewise formed 
a part of his stock; and he would frequently, in times of the 
greatest hurry, abruptly drop his composing stick to perform a** 
solo on one of them, much to the discomfiture of his journeyman. 
Indeed he did not possess quite so strong an attachment for 
manual labor as for some other pursuits. He was fond of con- 
sidering the matter in a philosophical way ; and I have heard 
him remark — " Well, I guess I wont work too hard to-day lest 
I should have nothing to do tomorrow ; " which remark was the 
sure precurser of a ride, a walk, or an interval of repose over 
a book. There was a vein of humor, without the sting of sar- 
casm, running through his conversation, and he much loved a 
harmless practical joke. 

He had an original way of ridding himself of idlers and such 
disagreeable company as quartered in his office; and his way 
might be beneficially adopted by others ; it was, to immediately 
set them at some disagreeable work. No matter who the indi- 
vidual might be, old or young, high or low, he would be called 
to go for a pail of water, sweep the floor, or perform some other 
equally dignified service, a plausible excuse always accompany- 
ing the request ; and when one thing was done another was 
ready to be commenced on, until the victim concluded to depart. 
I remember seeing a gentleman of the first respectability, rolling 
at the press, with a hand roller, his clothes, hands, and sweaty 
brow, all bedaubed with ink, while Mr. Lummus was pulling on 



516 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

with all possible speed, to prevent any opportunity for rest, 
his countenance wearing the gravity of a sphynx, excepting 
when his eye happened to catch mine. 

The surest source of accumulation is economy. But of the 
possession of this virtue Mr. Lummus had little cause to boast. 
His financial skill was not of a high order ; and he was, more- 
over, of quite a liberal turn. So it is hardly probable that, had 
his income been ever so great, he would have become rich, for 
we do not find that the scriptural promise that the liberal soul 
shall be made fat, is always verified in a pecuniary way. I 
have known him to hire a horse and wagon and occupy perhaps 
half a day in going to Salem to procure two reams of paper. 
And I remember of a gentleman telling me that he called at his 
place one forenoon, urging him, in great haste, to ride with him 
to Boston, whither he was bound, in a chaise, alone. It being 
a pleasant day, the invitation was accepted. On reaching the 
i city, he drove directly to an eating house, and called for some 
favorite viand, which was speedily before them. As soon as the 
meal was disposed of, Mr. Lummus arose, and with an air of 
great satisfaction patting the natural receptacle of all good 
dinners, informed his friend that he was ready to start for home. 

In the matter of dress, Mr. Lummus was far from being a 
successful imitator of Brummell, though he was always decently 
clad. The exterior habiliments, however, were not usually in 
exact keeping with the interior. I have seen him in the street 
with cow-hide boots, muddy and of uncouth shape, when I knew 
that his feet were encased in fine silk stockings. And beneath 
that shaggy coat of dingy white and ancient fashion, there was 
probably as fine linen as the wealthiest wore. 

He occasionally conceived strange antipathies and prejudices 
which -would sometimes exhibit themselves in a manner rather 
amusing than injurious. I once saw him seize the list of the 
carrier for the eastern part of the town, and begin with an 
eager and merciless hand to cross ofi" names. I asked him if so 
many wanted to stop their papers. " I don't care whether they 
do or not," he replied, " but if they want it any longer they've 
got to move out of Woodend to get it." 

Like most editors, he was fond of having his paper talked 
about, and loved much to now and then create a sensation. To 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — CHARLES F. LUMMUS. 517 

that end, he would occasionally concentrate in one of his little 
paragraphs enough material to serve most editors for a column — 
charging a perfect little bomb-shell — perhaps offensive from its 
personal application, or roughly divulging some private matter. 
He was once sued for a libel on one of our most respectable 
physicians, and judgment to the amount of some two hundred 
dollars passed against him, though I think he told me that the 
Doctor did not exact the penalty. The offensive matter was, 
however, the work of a correspondent. 

Like most editors, too, he was pleased to see his articles 
going the rounds of the press ; and he knew well how to accom- 
plish ihis end by inserting that which from its bare oddity would 
be snapped up. For instance, he upon one calm summer morn- 
ing startled the community with the bold announcement — 
" Huckleberries is ripe." And the press all over the country 
echoed his announcement. It was customary in former days, 
as well as now, for people to complain of the dilatoriness of the 
Legislature. A<nd Mr. Lummus once issued his paper with the 
usual conspicuous heading — " Legislative Proceedings " — in 
one of its columns, followed by a long blank space. It was 
thought to be a good joke ; but he said the best of the joke was 
that it saved the setting of so many types. 

The Mirror was discontinued in March, 1832, the proprietor 
having become involved, and the income not meeting the ex- 
penses. In the summer of the same year he published the first 
Directory of Lynn. It was a small 12mo. of seventy pages, 
with paper covers, and contained such information as is usually 
found in publications of the kind. 

Mr. Lummus now passed some four years without any regular, 
settled emplo3'ment. He worked a little at printing, kept a 
circulating library for a short time, had one or two classes in 
French, and several in music. He told me that in French, his 
plan was to learn a lesson one day and teach it the next, tljus 
keeping one step ahead of his pupils, and so near them as to see 
all the difficulties of the way ; and his success was so satisfac- 
tor}'' that one large class made him a valuable present. 

In the spring or summer of 1836, he commenced a small 
paper, just about the size of the first number of the Mirror, 
which he called The Star, and sold at one cent a copy. They 
112 



518 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

sold well. Sometimes he disposed of fifteen hundred, and gen- 
erally from that down to eight hundred. Yet it must have been 
far from a profitable undertaking, for though he might edit 
and do all the mechanical labor himself, but little could have 
been left after paying for the paper and meeting the other small 
expenses ; and the advertising amounted to scarcely any thing. 
Subsequently he changed the name of this paper from The Star 
to The Mirror, thus returning to his first love. And finally he 
enlarged a little and raised tiie price to two cents. This cut 
down the sales very much ; and it continued in weakly existence 
for a few months more, when declining health obliged him to 
abandon it. 

The sickness which now seized upon him proved to be his 
last. I often visited him as his life was closing — for being in 
sickness and adversity, he was neglected by most of those who 
in his brighter days were benefited by his friendship — and 
was usually accompanied by a dear companion, whose brilliancy 
he so much delighted in, and whose tender sympathy was so 
soothing to him, and who, in the ways of a mysterious provi- 
dence was destined soon to follow him into the dark valley. We 
found him cheerful, for his christian faith was strong; and he 
seemed to feel no regret at the near prospect of death. But to 
the last, his natural eccentricities would occasionally exhibit 
themselves. I remember that on an afternoon just before his 
death, the bell happened to toll for a funeral. He heard it, and 
remarked " There, there is that old bell again ; well, it will 
toll for me, in a few days, I suppose," without any apparent 
conception that it would strike one as an unseemly remark. 
At another time, we found him sitting up, eating a piece of 
toast, and were surprised to hear him reply to the inquiry as to 
how he felt, "0, your grandsir will be well enough in a few 
days, I guess." But after he had retired and we were at his 
bed-side to bid him good night, he explained himself by saying 
that his remark, as we came in, might have savored of levity, 
and seemed unbecoming; that it had reference to his death, 
which would probably take place in a few days ; and he cer- 
tainly trusted that all would be well with him. 

It was on the 20th of April, 1838, at the age of thirty-seven, 
that Mr. Lummus closed his life. He had marked singularities 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — EBENEZER BREED. 519 

of cliaracter, but always proved so fast a friend and agreeable 
companion that he was universally beloved. And he had such 
an honesty of purpose, and strong desire to " do a little good 
in the world," as he expressed it, that his memory is more 
worthy of being cherished thau many of higher pretensions and 
greater renown. 



ELIJAH DOWNING. — 1777-183 

Mr. Downing was for many years a highly respected citizen, 
unassuming in manners, and of great moral worth. He was one 
of the early Methodists, was ordained a Deacon, and did much 
to propagate the faith in this vicinity. He held responsible 
town offices, and as an acting magistrate his services were 
much in requisition. A remarkably retentive memory added 
greatly to his readiness and success. He was postmaster, in 
1807. 

Mr. Downing was born in Lynn, in 1777, and was twice mar- 
ried. His first wife was Mary Breed, whom he married 7 April, 
1799, and his children were, Mary, Eliza, Eliza again, Mary again, 
a third Mary, Ehjah, Elijah H., and Joshua W. Only the two 
last survived him ; the latter, but a short time. His wife Mary 
died 17 November, 1813, and he married Clarissa Jacob, his 
second wife, 5 July, 1814. By her he had no children.' Ho 
died on the 14tli of August, 1838. He was a cabinet-maker, 
and lived on North Common street, corner of Park. His sons 
Ehjah H. and Joshua W. were liberally educated, and both 
became Methodist ministers ; Elijah, however, was afterward 
received into the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
and removed to the south. 



EBENEZER B51EED. — 17G5-1839. 
Mr. Breed closed his strangely eventful life in Lynn alms- 
house, on the 23d of December, 1839, at the age of seventy-four 
years. He had been a pauper there for many years, and his 
life, which opened with unusual promise, closed in misery and 
degradation. Lynn is greatly indebted to him as one of the 
most efficient laborers in the establishment of that business 



520 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

wLlch has so enriched her, and on which her prosperity con- 
tinues to rest. He was a native of the town, but while quite 
a young man removed to Philadelphia, where, in a very short 
period, by his talents, diligence, and correct deportment, he 
won the favorable notice of some of the most eminent business 
men. One or two natives of Lynn were then in Philadelphia, 
largely engaged in business, and occupying high social positions. 
Among them was Stephen Collins, a Quaker, who readily ex- 
tended a helping hand to Mr. Breed, who was also a Quaker. 
And Philadelphia was at that time, as is well known, a sort of 
Quaker paradise. Every thing seemed to operate favorably, 
and in a short time he foujnd himself in a position prosperous 
and influential. 

In 1792 he visited Europe, for business purposes, and while 
there did not fail to attempt something for the benefit of his 
native country, which having just achieved her political inde- 
pendence, was struggling to place herself in a position to supply 
her own needs in those departments of the great economy of 
life, necessary for an independent nation. Among other things 
he set about introducing the morocco manufacture into America. 
And for his success, the National Committee of Commerce and 
Manufactures, after his return, awarded him a vote of thanks. 
He appointed an agent at Lynn, to sell to the shoe manufactur- 
ers the fashionable cloth stuiTs, such as were used in the best 
manufactures of France and England, Amos Rhodes, who built 
the house on the east side of Federal street, next south of the 
mill brook, was his agent, and is said to have become rich on 
the commissions. He also sent over some accomplished work- 
men to instruct the operatives here in the elegancies of the art. 
His first object seemed to be to determine that as elegant and 
substanrial shoes could be made here as in Europe ; after which 
another step was to be taken. 

Soon after the Revolution, shoes imported from France and 
England were sold at such a cheap rate that there was but poor 
encouragement for the manufacturer at home. The trade at 
Lynn was languishing, and the most energetic were disheart- 
ened. At this juncture, Mr. Collins, Mr. Breed, and a few others 
joined forces in the endeavor to induce Congress to impose 
such a duty on imported shoes as would Drotect the home man- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — EBENEZER BREED. 521 

ufacturers. Congress was at that time holding its sessions in 
Philadelphia, and a good opportunity was afforded for " log 
rolling," — to use an expressive modern term — which even Qua- 
kers may not always disdain. Among the means resorted to for 
the furtherance of their end was a dinner party, for they were 
shrewd enough to know that an appeal to the stomach is 
often effectual when one to the head is powerless. The party 
was held at the house of Friend Collins. Sundry members of 
Congress were present and sundry facinating ladies ; for female 
charms are another thing that even Quakers do not despise; 
particularly in a case like that before us, where a valuable end 
is to be answered. The celebrated Dolly Payne, who afterward 
became the wife of Madison was of the party, as well as Madison 
himself, who was at the time an influential member of Congress. 
Suffice it to say, a very satisfactory tariff act was passed, and 
Lynn immediately commenced her upward career, much to the 
gratification of Mr. Breed and her other dutiful sons then 
abroad. 

In various other ways did Mr. Breed, while in prosperity, 
exert himself for the benefit of his native place. The post-office 
was established here, in 1793, through his exertions; and being 
on a social footing with many prominent individuals in various 
parts of the country, he was able, in a quiet way, to do ma-ny 
things to promote her interests, of which few were ever directly 
informed, for he does not appear to have been one of those 
given to boasting of his meritorious acts. 

But the smiles of fortune were withdrawn, while he was yet 
in the vigor of manhood. There is some doubt as to the precise 
cause of his downward course. In his reduced condition he 
was often in a mood to converse with those in whom he con- 
fided, on the occasion of his calamities and sorrows. And with 
tears in his eyes he has reiterated to me that a severe disap- 
pointment in a fondly expected matrimonial connection, induced 
him to resort to the wine cup for relief — that he became wed- 
ded to the destroyer instead of the fair object of his nobler and 
purer affections, and was thus ruined. But some of his friends 
had another version, which was, that while in Europe he was 
brought into association with the fashionable and gay ; a class, 
at that period, almost universally derelict in morals, and proud 



522 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

of lavish expenditure ; and that in their society he contracted 
such habits as unfitted him for the rectified society of his native 
land. In short it was asserted that he returned an intemperate, 
immoral man ; and that the refined and wealthy lady to whom 
he was afBanced, in sorrow rejected him, and afterward accepted 
the hand of one .more worthy of her confidence and affection; 
In his utter degradation he clung to the fond belief that he still 
remained fresh in her memory. I remember with what aroused 
sensibilities he one day, a short time before his death, informed 
me that as she passed through Lynn, during the preceding sum- 
mer, she made inquiries respecting him, and being informed 
of his forlorn condition sent a kind message and comforting 
donation to him, at the alms-house. 

In prosperity, he became acquainted with many leading men 
of the nation, and received letters which he treasured up with 
miserly care. And with some asperity he charged the overseers 
of the poor with wantonly destroying them. It is not to be 
presumed that those dignitaries had any unworthy motive in 
view when they assembled around the work-house fire, exam- 
ined the epistles, and dropped them one by one into the blaze; 
yet, if representations regarding them be true, some autographs 
were consumed that would at this time be estimated at a high 
pecuniary value. They probably apprehended that they were 
removing the cause of the unliappy hours, as they supposed them 
to be, that the poor old man experienced in poring over them — 
not realising that he might be far from unhappy at such hours, 
though tears would drop from his purblind eyes. And to the 
honor of the friends of his better days it should be said that 
they did not all forget or neglect him in his bitter adversit3^ 
I had occasion to know that he received from them many kind 
remembrances and pecuniary gratuities. 

Mr. Breed is represented to have been, in his early manhood, 
more than ordinarily correct in his habits, especially as regarded 
the use of intoxicating liquors. It is said that on his occasional 
visits here he was accustomed to labor hard for the reformation 
of a connection who had fallen into intemperate habits ; on one 
occasion proceeding as far as the demonstrative argument of 
knocking in the head of a cask containing the creature of ofi'ence. 

His education was quite as good as the common schools of 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — EBENEZER BREED. 523 

his day afforded. I have in my possession a considerable num- 
ber of letters which he ';\'rote between 1789 and 1810, and they 
would compare favorably with the letters of almost any busi- 
ness man now among us. His expressions are clear and direct, 
and his penmanship unusually fair. And three or four of these 
letters I propose to introduce, believing that they will add to 
the interest of this sketch. All that will be given, with the 
exception of the last, were addressed to Amos Rhodes, the gen- 
tleman before named as his agent at Lynn. 

London, 7 mo. 17, 1792. 

]My Dear Friend: I intended writing thee immediately on my arrival, 
but nothing in particular occurring to communicate, have delayed till now. 
We had a prosperous passage of twenty-eight days. Since my arrival I have 
been into the north of England, to Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, 
Liverpool, &c. I find I sliall be able to establish a good connection in busi- 
ness, and though I may not get the goods to answer to my particular plan, yet 
I am sensible I shall reap advantages by coming here. I find some goods had 
been shij)ped out to me in tlie spring, and by letters from Phi]adelj)hia learn 
they arrived safe and were forwarded to thee. Thou wilt do the best with 
them, and when the sales are made we will divide the profits. I had goods to 
some amount shipped for tlie fall, from Leeds, previous to my reaching that 
place, so that I don't know what they are. Geo. Pennock is to receive them,, 
and I expect to be in Philadelphia in the 9tii or first of 10th mo. in time to be' 
in Lynn before the winter. I have ordered a considerable quantity of bindings ; 
was at the factoiy and saw them making them. I shall not bring out many 
other goods than shoe stuffs, at ])resent. I have met with a cordial reception 
from those to whom I was recommended and have met with as much hospi- 
tality from others as ever I experienced — have been introduced to many very 
respectable merchants and others 

I am, with much love and esteem, thy affectionate and sincere friend, 

Ebenezer Breed. 

Mr. Breed remained in England but a few weeks after the date 
of the above. He then went over to France, to perfect some' 
business arrangements there. And his flattering success is in- 
dicated in the following letter : 

Dunkirk, (France,) 8 mo. 12, 1792. 
My Dear Friend: I have just heard of a vessel bound to Newburyport and 
have only time to inform thee of my intention to leave this place, this day,, 
for London, from whence I shall shortly depart for America. I received thy 
acceptable favor, and am pleased to hear that we shall be able to vend so many 
goods. I wrote thee last by the ship William Penn, and if nothing happens. 
to prevent, shall embark before I write thee again. I have been making am 
excursion to Paris and through some Darts of Fi-ance. Please give my love tO" 



524 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

my parents and inform them I am well. 1 have sent out some stuffs, but have 
not many other articles — thought best not to till I returned ; but I can have 
any quantity of goods from the people to whom I was recommended. I can 
not enlarge now, and not knowing whether this will reach thee before 1 do> 
shall conclude with best respects to thy Elizabeth, and am, dear friend, 

Thine sincerely. Eben'r Breed. 

In a letter dated about a month after the foregoing, he says, 
"I wrote thee from Dunkirk, in France — have been to Paris — 
was there on the day before the fatal 10th of August." This 
was written on the river Thames, on board the ship on which 
he had embarked to return to Philadelphia. He remarks: "I 
have several hundred pounds' worth of goods in this ship, all 
insured and paid for." 

The following letter gives information regarding a mode of 
operating in shoes, rather common at that period : 

Philadelphia, 5 mo. 16, 1793. 
Mt Dear Friend : I herewith enclose thee a bill of lading for sundry goods. 
The invoice I shall send on by post, I wrote thee a few days since by post. 
Capt. Needham leaves us tomorrow, and by what I can learn he intends to be 
jn the shoe business — to lend the shoemakers money on the usual interest, 
with the privilege of taking his pay in shoes, they allowing him five per cent, 
commission for selling for what price he can. This mode of business will no 
doubt do for him, but how will it prove to our business ? Why, it is my opin- 
ion, and always has been, that I can never do any thing here while shoes are 
brouglit and sold in such a manner. But if it must be so, I prefer Capt. Need- 
ham to many otheis. I think if several of us would join and take such a 
quantity of shoes at Lynn as to make them more difficult for so many hawkers 
to get, it would be an advantage. But we might as well think of raising Egg 
Rock from its bed, and bringing it to Philadelphia on our shoulders to exhibit 
for a show, in the streets ; and in fact by this I think we should make much 

more money. Farewell. 

Eben'r Breed. 

In the following letter Mr. Breed manifests impatience at the 
poor way in which some of the Lynn shoes were manufactured ; 
and from subsequent correspondence, not here introduced, it is 
judged that his rebukes had a good effect. It will be noticed 
that he remarks that he is " in a bad way as to business." And 
we are impressed with the belief that it was about this time that 
he was getting into a bad way in other respects : 

Philadelphia, 7 mo. 25, 1793. 
My Dear Friend : I wi-ote thee yesterday, since which I have seen Daniel 
Ruff and Company, and they want six hundred pairs, or six barrels, of excellent 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.' — EBENEZER BREED. 525 

satinet rand sliocs. [Slioes -Avcre tlien packed in barrels instead of boxes.] 
I want thee to write me l)y return post whether thee can have theni inade, and 
at what price we can afford them. Those shoes thee last sent are mostly on 
hand, and I am perfectly sick of doing business in the shoe line here, unless 
we can have such as will sell. I declare it would be more agreeable to me to 
work journeywork than be plagued as I am by those who buy shoes here, 
unless we can have bettor ones. If I call for the money, they begin to show 
me the large number of small, unsaleable ones they have left, that they never 
can sell, and say I must not expect my pay, &c. &c. And what can I say to 
them ? It is so, and so it will be, while the shoemakers in Lynn are a set or 
confounded fools. Ask Samuel Collins what his cousin Zaccheus has written 
him, and he will tell thee it is a rascally business to be concerned in, while 
the makers of shoes thei-e have no principle nor polic)\ I don't write this to 
blame thee, for T know thy mind too well, and know thee would do well if thee 
had others to deal with. I am in haste now, and in a bad way, as to business, 
and see nothing that can be done in the line except we can establish a factory, 
I wish thee to procure cash on our goods, if possible, and tell those who deal 
with thee that unless they can make shoes on more honorable terms we can't 
have any from them. 

I am, my dear friend, thy affectionate 

E. Breed. 

The following appears to have been written after the sad 
blight of the matrimonial anticipations alluded to. and certainly 
seems to indicate a spirit capable of bearing up under such 
an affliction, though there is a little something like unsavory 
bravado in a passage or two : 

Charleston, [S. C] 2 mo. 25, 1796. 
Dear Aimos : I was very happy in receiving, a few days ago, thy agreeable 
favor of 21 December. I had wj-itten thee on my arrival here, and suppose 
that long before this thou hast received it. Since I wrote thee we have been 
traveling through a part of this state, and intended to have gone to Savannah 
and Augusta, but the late uncommon high freshets in the river prevented. 
We spent three or foTu- weeks agreeably among the planters, and returned 
here last week, when I received thy letter. E. Olden has received great benefit 
from the jaunt, and I think will recover. I am well and in good spirits ; feel 
very different from what I did when I last wi-ote thee. I have seen several 
of my old-acquaintances here and in the countiy, whom I had seen in Phila- 
delphia. They treated me with every attentioi.i and respect I could wish. I 
now see what a fool I have been, and though I am still a friend to my old 

, I think I am as well without her as with her. I now only wish to be in 

some good business ; and I have no doubt that I shall spend many social and 
pleasant hours with thee and my other friends, yet. I am not so much dis- 
spiritcd as to be without friends. And I think there are some girls yet left, 
who can make me happy. Please give my love to my parents. Tell them I 
am veiy well. I shall wish to settle our accomits as thee mentions as soon as 



526 HISTORY OP- LYNN. >* 

possil)le, and I am endeavoring to inform myself wliat kind of businefss can be 

done here in the shoe line. Several people have inquired after slioes, and I 

think I can sell considerable numbers here in future. I expect to return home 

by land ; if so, I shall leave this city in two weeks. If I come by water, I shall 

leave sooner. I will write thee again soon. My love to thy wife, Patty, and 

mother, and all friends. 

I am, dear Amos, thy sincere 

E. Breed. 

The next and last letter that can be here inserted bears 
unmistakable evidence of distempered faculties. Mr. Breed had 
now, for several years, been back to Lynn, his native place, and 
at a rapid pace gone downward. At this time he lived in 
what is called Breed's End, and procured a scanty livelihood by 
cutting shoes. And it is not inappropriate to remark that the 
gentleman to whom this letter was sent, and who was himself at 
one time in a large business at New York, and well knew Mr. 
Breed, in his prosperity, with emphasis declared that Lynn 
never produced a more promising and honorable business man : 

Lynn, 9 mo. lldi, 1805. 
Mt Good Fmend : Thy favor of the 8th inst. is before me, also a few lines 
of this morning handed to me by a boy, requesting me to cut some small 
shoes before two o'clock. I answer thee in this way ; read the enclosed ; as a 
statesman — a neighbor — a friend and brother — I esteem thee; but I am not 
able to do more than I have done. Every stretch of thought, every faculty, in 
fact all the powers of my poor mind have been exerted ; still I am poor and 
unhappy. Harris Chadwell will deliver thee those skins I lately received from 
thee. I will thank thee to return the enclosed slip of paper ; it is a favorite 
study of mine ; and though I am viewed by thee as a Drunkard, my feelings 
are the same as ever they have been. Accept my thanks for thy former 
friendship, and for the present attention thou wilt please to receive the grateful 
acknowledgments of Thy friend, 

E. Breed. 

Mr. Breed fancied that he had a turn for poetry, and wrote 
some verses; but the weakness may have been superinduced 
b)" the prominent experience, of a tender nature, which has 
been alluded to, and which is of a character, as is generally 
supposed, to incline its subjects to give vent to their feelings in 
numbers. He was, however, a much better business man than 
poet. 

For several years ho was an opium eater ; and his cravings 
for the pernicious drug were pitiable in the extreme. He used, 
occasionally, in good weather, to gain leave of absence from his 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — EBENEZER BREED. 527 

pauper home, for a day or two at a time, and would then some- 
times travel as far as Nahant, though his blindness and other 
infirmities, during his latter years, compelled him to move very 
slowl3\ And on these occasions, if he could procure the means, 
he was pretty sure to become intoxicated. His person was 
gross and uncleanly ; and those who met him on these excur- 
sions were compelled to pronounce him as miserable and forlorn 
a looking object as could well be presented to the eye of pity. 
When in the street he was in constant fear of passing carriages, 

J which, in consequence of his blindness, he could not see ; and, as 
before said, his gait was extremely slow. I think he told me, 
as I met him in Federal street, one summer evening, in 1837, 
on his way home to the alms-house, that he had been the whole 
day in walking thus far from Nahant. 

While on his excursions, he would usually take the opportu- 
nity to call at the office of Mr. Lummus, the printer, a bio- 
graphical sketch of whom has already been given ; and from 
that halting place he was never spurned, as he was from some 
other places where he desired to rest. He was generally so 
hungry by the time he arrived as to beg for something to eat. 
" Well, Uncle Eben," replied Mr. Lummus, on one occasion, " I 
can't take you to my boarding-house table, you are so dirty ; 
but I'll get you something." Presently the old man was pro- 
vided with a liberal ration done up in a piece of newpaper, 
and the colloquy resumed something after this sort: "There, 
Uncle Eben, see how a little nice cold turkey will set on your 
stomach." ..." Why, Charles, I thank thee, kindly. It is a 
long time since I have tasted so dainty a thing as turkey. 
But" — (after munching a little while) — "this don't taste ex- 
actly as turkey used to; and the bones don't feel like turkey 
bones. But my eyes are so dim that I can't tell what it looks 
like." ..." Well, Uncle Eben, if you haven't sight you must 
eat by faith ; and mutton bones are just as good as turkey, if you 
have faith to believe they are. So eat awa}^, and be thankful." 

But with all his faults, Mr. Breed retained many fine qualities, 
and rays of smothered nobleness and rectitude would not un- 
frequently gleam forth. And it is painful to reflect that one 
whom nature seems to have designed for some high duty should 
have so fallen — that one who really did so much for his native 



528 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

town, for his country, indeed, should at last have gone down to 
a pauper's grave. 

From a history like his, eminently useful lessons may be 
drawn. Our sympathies are naturally touched while contem- 
plating the condition of one in degradation and distress, who 
has seen better days, who has stood in a position to command 
our respect. But to render such lessons most useful it is well 
to consider whether the degradation and distress were produced 
by causes over which the sufferer had no control or are to be 
attributed to his own perverse inclination. While, however, 
the lesson is being deduced, it should never be forgotten that 
it is an essential part of christian duty to endeavor to comfort 
and relieve the miserable, before we ask what made them so. 
I knew " Uncle Eben " well, and had repeated conversations 
with him, though not before he had reached his low estate. 
His sad memories and utter hopelessness pressed with almost 
insufferable weight, and conspired with his physical infirmities 
to render him a most forlorn and pitiable object. And I have 
heard his bitter complaints at the taunts of those in brief autho- 
rity over him. They seemed to have no just conception of his 
still lingering virtues. By the just, even the offender against 
justice is sure to have his merits acknoAvledged. And into the 
most wretched soul a ray of sunshine darts when it feels that 
its little remnant of virtue is recognized and appreciated. 



ENOCH CURTIN. — 1794-1842. 
Mr, Curtin was born at Lynn on the 25th of July, 1794, and 
was a son of John Curtin. His education was not beyond that 
afforded by the common schools of his time. And he content- 
edly pursued the humble occupation of a shoemaker. But he 
was a man of far more than ordinary ability. Mr. Lewis, who 
knew him well, says, " He was a man of estimable qualities, 
and possessed great poetical talent. He had a very happy fac- 
ulty for the production of odes and songs adapted to particular 
occasions. His mind was intellectual, refined, and noble, and 
he was widely esteemed and beloved." In 181G, he married 
Sally Ireson, by whom he had seven children ; and he died on 
the 28th of May, 1842, at the age of forty-seven. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ENOCH CURTIN. 529 

Mr. Curtin furnishes a striking example of unasserted talents. 
There is little doubt that nature bestowed on him powers, which, 
had they been fully developed and cultivated, would have made 
him eminent as a poet. He appears to have felt assured of this, 
but had not sufficient ambition to overcome a natural repug- 
nance to that earnest and persistent intellectual labor by which 
alone one can become eminent as a writer. And in his grave, 
perhaps rests another " mute, inglorious Milton." In his seques- 
tered walk as a humble mechanic, however, with his contempla- 
tive rather than laboring mind, he may have enjoyed more than 
he could have enjoyed through the ringing plaudits of a hollow 
hearted world. But can any one fulfill his duty to his fellow 
men while allowing talents which might benefit them to remain 
unimproved? And is it not selfishness to prefer a pleasurable 
ease to a putting forth of those exertions which would enhance 
the enjoyment of others? 

As Mr. Lewis remarks, Mr. Curtin possessed a very happy 
faculty for composing odes and occasional pieces. His style 
was stirring and eloquent — just what is required in such 
compositions. His pen was in requisition for a contribution for 
almost every sort of celebration and dedication ; and the news- 
boy confidently expected a glowing address for his patrons at 
new year's time. If he could have disciplined himself so as to 
bestow a little more labor on what might be called the finish 
of his pieces, eliminating redundances, easing off occasional 
rough turns, rectifying an imperfect image here and there, he 
would, on a final perusal, have been better satisfied with his 
productions, and they would have gone forth with a stronger 
recommendation to the discriminating reader. In consequence 
of this want of care and exactness in expressing himself, his 
full meaning does not always at once appear; and hence to 
the inattentive reader much may be lost. There is a wide 
difference between him and Miss Fuller, in these respects, as 
the reader will at once perceive. Their general styles, too, are 
marked by all the differences that characterize the opposite 
sexes ; hers is feminine and smoothly flowing, his masculine and 
often abrupt. But I hardly know who would place one below 
the other as a favorite of the Muses. 

As a writer to be read in times not his own, Mr. Curtin 
S2 34 



530 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

i 
labored under a disadvantage. His pieces were commonly 

written with reference to particular occasions or localities and 
were apt to contain expressions which could not be fully un- 
derstood, under other circumstances. He wrote rapidly, gen- 
erally on the spur of the occasion, and in accordance with 
some special solicitation which his generosity would not suffer 
him to decline ; he wrote, too, without expectation of pecuniary 
reward ; and his uniform success establishes the fact of an ac- 
tive and trustworthy genius ; which is certainly to be preferred 
to one of the pyrotechnic order, however brilliant or startling 
an occasional scintillation may be. He was unassuming, and I 
apprehend would have been undisturbed by criticism, as he 
might defiantly exclaim, in the language of Wordsworth, 
The moving accident is not my trade. 
Most writers in verse who have not had considerable experi- 
ence nor been subjected to the shocks of criticism — and many, 
indeed, who have — injure their composition by straining after 
the ornamental and disdaining the natural. But it seems to 
me that Mr. Curtin, and Miss Fuller, were both singularly free 
from such an unfortunate habit. And as every one has a love 
for the natura?, they will never cease to have admirers. Their 
styles were very different, and so were their themes ; and it is 
strong evidence of their appreciation of their own powers that 
with each, theme and style were so well adapted to each other. 
Mr. Curtin did not confine himself to poetry, by any means. 
He wrote a great many excellent prose articles ; some of an 
imaginative character, and others on the sober realities of 
life. And his pen was not unfrequently exercised on political 
subjects. He could be caustic if he chose, but was dignified, 
and seldom trespassed on the strict rules of courtesy. A couple 
of specimens of his poetry follow. 

SOUND freedom's TRUMP 1 
lAn Ode sung at the Celebration of Independence, in Lynn, July 4, 1831.1 
Sound Freedom's Trump! The day returns, 

The day that gave our Nation birth I 
The fire upon om* ahar burns, 

Whose sacred incense fills the earth. 
Let crumbling crowns to dust retire, 
While Liberty's eternal fii*e, 



DIOGRAPniCAL SKETCHES. — ENOCH CURTIN. 531 

O'er tottering thrones sheds its bright ray, 

And round the earth in triumpli rolls, 
A halo of immortal day, 

Whose arch of glory lights the Poles 1 

Sound Freedom's Trnnip ! Let each glad voice 

Join the full chorus of delight! 
This day at Freedom's shrine rejoice, 

Wliile Europe's minions sleep in ni^ht! 
Despots shall mourn their regal birth, 
And sceptres vanish from the earth! 
Let mitres in obedience nod. 

Be Tyranny in ruin hurled, 
And Liberty proclaim her God, 

While Freedom's Trump shall wake the world! 

Sound Freedom's Trump, o'er hill and dale! 

Throughout Columbia's vast domain 
Let songs of joy and mirth prevail. 

And each glad voice repeat the strain. 
No tyi'ant foot shall tread the soil, 
Our fathers bought with blood and toil'. 
Firm as the rocks upon our strand. 

To guard tlie right by freedom given, 
Columbia's hardy sons shall stand, 

A fearless host — the pride of Heaven ! 

Sound Freedom's Trump! Awake! Ai'ise! 

And bid the thundering cannon's roar 
Swell in loud pseans to the skies. 

And fill tlie earth from shore to shore ! 
Gallia and Grecia shall be free ! 
And Poland shouts for liberty ! 
On pinions of immortal fame, 

The sacred flame each clime shall bound ; 
Then, while Columbia holds a name. 

Let holy Freedom's Trumpet sound ! « 

LINES, 

Addressed to a young lady of Marblehead, on the death of her brother, who 
died at Batavia, in the island of Java, and was buried on a small island, 
about half a league from Batavia. In digging his grave a considerable quantity 
of curious marine shells, of beautiful variety, were found embedded about 
four feet from the surface of the eartii, a number of which were preserved 
and brought to this country, one of them being presented to the author. 
Written in 1830. 

Be hushed thy sighs ! Oh, weep not for the dead, 
Who sweetly sleeps witliin his coi-al bed ; 



532 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

Oh, cease to chide the swellhig waves that bore 
A loving brotlier from his native shora 
For the trumpet shall sound 
And the dead shall arise, 
To inherit a crown 

From the King of the skies. 

No more the storm shall gather round his head, 
No more the foaming waves their crests shall rear, 
To shatter his frail bark — no more the lead 
Shall tell of rocks, and shoals, and quicksands near. 
' For behold to unite 

In the sweet promise given, 
He has taken his flight 
To the mansions of Heaven. 

Oft has he braved the perils of the deep, 
And heard the rude winds whistle through the shrouds. 
Oft has he strove his little bark to keep 
Safe from the fury of the gathering clouds. 
But the clouds have passed o'er. 

And the winds are at rest ; 
He now dwells secure 
Li the realms of the blest. 

Far in the palm ti*ees' shade his bed is found. 
Where Indian summers yield eternal bloom; 
Where spicy groves spread their rich foliage round, 
And shed their fragrance o'er his early tomb. 
Where the lote shall wave, 
, And the cypress shall twine. 

Till the mariner's grave 
Shall its treasure resign. 

What though no storied urn points out the spot, 
Or marble marks his last retreat from care ; 
What though no stone records his early lot. 
Or tells — " The ship-wreck'd mariner lies there." 
Yet to his sad pile 

Shall the murmuring surge, 
As it sweeps round the isle. 
Sing the young sailor's dirge. 

Then weep no more ! Oh hush those sighs of thine; 

For could thy tears recall him from that shore. 

Where his blest spirit lives in bliss divine, 

Methmks, young friend, that thou would'st weep no more. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — NEWHALL. — COFFIN. 533 

Then trust in tliat arm, 

Whose chastening rod 
Will shield thee from harm — 

'Tis the power of God. 

JOSIAH NEWHALL. — 1790-1842. 

Mr. Newball was a highly respected and useful citizen, and for 
many years continued to fill the most responsible offices in the 
town. He was a Representative for several terms, and a Senator 
in 1832 and '33. He was one of our largest shoe manufacturers, 
for years, and in all his business relations secured the utmost 
confidence of those with whom he dealt. His residence and 
place of business were at the east end of the Common. In 
manners he was dignified and courteous ; and he was excelled 
by none for integrity of character and purity of life. For many 
years he was a prominent member of the Methodist connection, 
and active in benevolent enterprises. 

He was born at Lynn, on the 7th of January, 1790, and was 
a descendant from Thomas Newhall, the first person of European 
parentage born in Lynn. He was twice married. His first 
wife was Lydia Johnson, to whom he was united on the 19th 
of March, 1811, and by whom he had four children — Robert, 
who died in infancy ; Elizabeth ; Martha, who died in infancy ; 
and Harrison. His second wife was Clarissa Martin, whom he 
married in 1832, and by whom he had two children — Charles 
M., who died in childhood, and Josiah H., who is now a Metho- 
dist minister. 

Mr. Newhall died on the 7th of November. 1842. 



EDWARD LUMMUS COFFIN. — 1794-1845. 

Dr. Coffin was the third son of Dr. Aaron Lummus, and a 

brother of Charles F. Lummus. a biographical sketch of whom 

]bas been given. His name was changed to Coffin, which was 

the family name on the maternal side, chiefly because his father 

and elder brother, John, were at the time practising physicians 

here and confusion was liable to occur. He was born in Lynn, 

on the 14th of December, 1794, graduated at Harvard, and studied 

medicine under Dr. Shurtleff, of Boston. He was twice mai. 

S2* 



634 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

ried. His first wife was Mary Rhodes, whom he married in 
1823, and by whom he had one child, named Edward Everett, 
who died in infancy. His second wife was Frances Cutler, of 
Cambridge, by whom he had two children — Mary F. and Edward 
C. He died at his residence, on Market street, on the 31st of 
March, 1845, at the age of fifty, after a painful sickness of more 
than two years. 

Dr. Coffin was a highly esteemed citizen ; skillful in his pro- 
fession, liberal in his views, of generous disposition and affable 
manners. He was active in the cause of popular education 
and the general diffusion of intelligence ; was much interested 
in the common schools, in lectures, and scientific discussions. 
And he was not apt to denounce a new thing, without examina- 
tion, because others decried it as a humbug. I remember when 
the first lecturer on animal magnetism came to town and dis- 
coursed in the old Town Hall, with what fairness he joined 
thumbs with him, and how patiently he sat under the manipula- 
tions, entirely undisturbed by the merriment of those in whose 
minds the whole thing was forestalled as an imposition. He 
was not one of the many who are so excessively timid, through 
fear of compromising their dignity, that they suffer the best 
opportunities for improvement to slip by unemployed. His 
labors on the school committee, in conjunction with those of 
Rev. Mr. Rockwood, who was likewise an ardent friend of edu- 
cation, were highly appreciated. And their unity of purpose, 
in this respect, did much toward creating a lasting friendship 
between them; though on one important matter their views 
were essentially different — the Doctor being a decided Unita- 
rian and Mr. Rockwood a high Calvinist. 

He possessed a vein of humor which would sometimes assert 
itself in a most pleasing manner ; but he did not suffer it to 
override his dignity. Men who fancy themselves wits, and 
set themselves up as such, are prone to obtrude their smart 
saying as well out of season as in season, greatly to the annoy- 
ance of others and their own discredit. But the occasional sallies 
of a genuine and unostentatious humorist, are like placid rays of 
sunshine in the world's dull routine. Nor was the Doctor with- 
out ability as a versifier, his productions being usually of a 
playful character. His pieces were evidently unstudied ; but 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — EDWARD L. COFFIN. 



535 



they bear unmistakable evidence of a trained mind and lively- 
sensibilities. The following appears in the form of a receipted 
bill, dated December 29, 1827, and was sent to a townsman into 
whose family he- had been professionally called during the year. 
His charges were certainly moderate ; particularly as he ap- 
pears to have taken store pay. 

1827. My frieu' good Mr. William B. 

Indebted is to Doctor E. 

For sundry pills and potions, 
And credited by more amount, 
As will be seen by sliop account, 

For claes and gloves and notions. 

Feb'y. When slippery Pisces led the year, 

(Tail-tied, for lack of better gear, 

Tiie stars aniang,) 
Ye ken I 've charged a groat or two 
For self and wife and little Sue, 

Wlien called to gang, «, 75 

March. Item — wlien crinkled-horned Aries 

Looked frowning fra' the vernal skies, 

Rheumatics boding, 

May. Item — when Maia's gentler reign 

Brought in a ghostly croupy train. 

Your lugs aye loading, 1.38 

June 24. When canker worms had left the trees, 70 

July. And Cancer mellowed down the breeze, 

(For wife and wee ane,) 2S^ 

August. When Leo's flamiug eye surveyed 
All Sammy's cattle in the shade. 
Except — the he ane 1.62 

$6.82 
May He who only has the giftie, 
Make you aye cantie, hale and thriftie. 

To life's last hour. 
May a' the Powers above defend ye, 
Fra' croup and toothack always tent ye. 

And blue deil's power. 

And when adown life's hill ye 're ganging 
May conscience give no fearfu' twanging. 

But hopes aye braw, 
And may your bonny bairns inherit 
Their mither's warth, their father's spii-it. 

When ye 're awa. 



536 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

ENOCH MUDGE. — 1776-1850. 

Mr. Mndge was born in Lynn, on the 28th of June, 1776, and 
was a sou of Enoch Mudge, who lived on the south side of the 
Common. At the early age of seventeen years he was licensed 
as a Methodist preacher, and the next j^ear joined the traveling 
connection. He was the first Methodist preacher born in New 
England, and continued active in the ministry for a great num- 
ber of years. He was a man of fervid piety and great activity 
of mind. His poetical effusions — of which many appeared at 
different periods of his life — bear evidence of a mind warmly 
in love with the beautiful of nature, and his sermons, of a heart 
devoted to the good of his fellow men. He married, 29 Novem- 
ber, 1797, Jerusha Hinkley, a daughter of John Holbrook, of 
Wellfleet, by whom he had four children — Solomon H., Anne 
B., Mary A., and Enoch R. ; the latter of whom erected the 
beautiful Gothic stone cottage at Swampscot, which attracts so 
much attention from strangers of taste. 

Mr. Mudge died in Lynn on the 2d of April, 1850, at the age 
of seventy-four, and was buried from the First Methodist meet- 
ing-house. 

At the close of the biographical sketch of Micajah Collins 
may be found some lines from the pen of Mr. Mudge. His 
longest production in metre, was, I think, that entitled "Lynn, 
a Poem." It was written in 1820, and published, in pamphlet 
form, in 1826. It comprises some six hundred and fifty lines ; 
is not very lively in style, and is hardly calculated to meet the 
cravings of a taste that prefers the stimulating to the merely 
nutritious. Wit and humor always impart a relish to poetic 
effusions on themes which are not strictly pensive or solemnly 
didactic. Without one or the other, the sentiment must be 
pleasurable or the imagery glowing to render a piece at all 
attractive. But I do not find that Mr. Mudge laid claim to 
either wit or humor. His poetry was rather instructive and 
admonitory than pleasing; and it was always valuable for its 
moral inculcations and good common sense views. The follow- 
ing lines, which were probably written in 1826, are as easy and 
pleasant as any thing of his that I have been able to find. The 
sentiment will be approved, and the comparisons are suggestive, 
though an imperfect expression or two may be noticed. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ASA T. NEWHALL. 537 

THE BLISS OF PIETY. 
Gentle is the breath of May, 
At the early dawn of day ; 
Mild the virgin-blushing rose, 
When first opening from repose ; 
Sweet the odors of perfume. 
From the honeysuckle bloom, 
Pleasant is the morning ray. 
Peeping from the birth of day ; 
Pure the gentle dew or rain. 
When distilling o'er the plain; 
Charming to angelic ears. 
Is the music of the spheres. 
All these images are faint. 
The Bliss of Piety to paint. 
Gentler, milder, sweeter, are 
The breath of Piety and Prayer. 
Music, light, and dew, and rain, 
All your images are vain. 
Breath of light and life divine, 
Odors, music, all are thine. 



ASA TARBEL NEWHALL. — 1779-1850. 

Mr. Newhall was born in the part Lynn that now forms Lynn- 
field, on the 28th of June, 1779. He Avas a son of Asa, who 
was born on the 5th of August, 1732, and was a son of Thomas, 
who was born on the 6th of January, 1681, and was a son of 
Joseph, who was born on the 22d of September, 1658, and was 
a son of Thomas Newhall, the first white person born in Lynn. 

Mr. Newhall was bred a farmer, and followed the honorable 
occupation all his life. He was a close observer of the opera- 
tions of nature, and brought to the notice of others divers facts 
of.great benefit to the husbandman. He delivered one or two 
addresses at agricultural exhibitions, and published several pa- 
pers which secured marked attention and elicited discussion. 
His mind was penetrating and possessed a happy mingling of the 
practical and theoretical ; and he had sufficient energy and in- 
dustry to insure results. Such a person will always make him- 
self useful in the world, though he may be destitute of that kind 
of ambition which would place him in conspicuous positions. 

He was liberal in his views, courteous in his manners; and 



538 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

by his sound judgment and unswerving integrity secured uni- 
versal respect. In his earlier manhood he was somewhat active 
as a politician, and was deemed judicious and trustworthy. He 
was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1820, and a 
Senator in 1826. He was also a Representative, in 1828. 

His wife was Judith Little, of Newbury ; and he had nine 
children — Joshua L., Asa T., Thomas B., Sallie M., Eunice A., 
Judith B., Caroline E., Hiram L., and Elizabeth B. 

Mr. Newhall died at his residence, in the southeastern part 
iof Lynnfield, on the 18th of December, 1850, aged 71, and was 
buried with masonic honors. 



EZRA MUDGE. — 1780-1855. 

Mr. Mudge was born in Lynn, on the 10th of April, 1780. He 
was engaged in the shoe business, here, for some years of his 
early manhood, and afterward went to New York, where he 
kept a large shoe store. Subsequently he returned, and re- 
mained till the first administration of General Jackson, when, 
on receiving an appointment in the Boston custom house, he 
removed to that city, where he continued to reside till the time 
of his death. For sixteeu years he faithfully represented his 
native town in the Legislature, having fiist taken his seat there 
in 1807. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention, 
in 1820, and of the Executive Council, in 1828. He was active 
in establishing the Artillery Company, in 1808, was one of the 
lieutenants commissioned at the time of organization, and cap- 
tain in 1813. 

Mr. Mudge was a man of unaffected piety, sound judgment, 
and agreeable manners. And though his worldly fortunes va- 
ried, he never lost his integrity nor the respect of his fellow 
men. He died on the 25th of May, 1855, and his remains were 
brought to Lynn and buried from the South street Methodist 
meeting-house, he having been all his life a consistent adherent 
of the Methodist faith. He was thrice married, his first matri- 
monial connection having been entered into at the early age of 
twenty-one years. His first wife was Betsey Brewer, whom he 
married in 1801, and by whom he had no children. His second 
wife was Ruth Chadwell, whom he married in ISOl, and by 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — FRANCIS S. NEWHALL. 539 

wLom he had seven children — Ezta A., Eliza B., Ruth C, Ezra 
W., Nathan, Hannah, and Sarah W. His third wife Avas Hannah 
Drew, and by her he had seven children — Lemuel D., William 
B., Hervey M., Sarah C, Mary E., Maria A., and Robert R, 
Ezra "Warren, the fourth child by the second wife, waa Mayor 
of Lynn in 1856 and '57. 



FRANCIS STUART NEWIIALL. — 1795-1858. 

Mr. Newhall was born in Lynn on the 30th of April, 1795, and 
was a son of Winthrop, who was born on the 6th of June, 1769, 
and was a son of Farrar (or Pharaoh, as he was universally called, 
and which name he himself adopted,) who was born on the 15th 
of February, 1735, and was a son of Samuel, who was born on 
the 9th of March, 1700, and was a son of Joseph, who was born 
on the 22d of September, 1658, and was a son of Thomas, born 
in 1630 — the first person of European parentage born in Lynn. 

Like most of his cotemporaries, his father being in moderate 
circumstances, Mr. Newhall had but little opportunity to acquire 
more than a very common education. At about the age of 
thirteen he commenced learning the trade of a tanner, Which 
business his father had followed for some years. Soon after 
attaining his majority he engaged in the morocco manufacture, 
and did a considerable business for those times. In 1822, the 
firm of F. S. and H. Newhall, familiar to every body in this 
vicinity, for many years, was formed; Henry, Mr. Newhall's 
brother, who is still living, being the junior partner. 

Mr. Newhall removed to New York in 1825, and established 
another business house, with a third partner, Mr. Ebenezer 
Burrill — the old firm continuing in Lynn. Although the New 
York firm was not successful, yet it subsequentl}' paid its in- 
debtedness in full. Returning to Lynn, Mr. Newhall, with his 
brother, prosecuted the morocco and leather business with such 
energy and success, that they soon became two of our most 
wealthy townsmen. The firm was dissolved in 1850, on account 
of the ill health of Henry. Mr. Newhall continued in trade for 
many years, and at the time of his death was in the sole leather 
business, in Boston, with his son Henry F. 

He was for more than twenty years a director of the Lynn 



540 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

Mechanics Bank; and in 1849, tlirough his exertions the Laigh- 
ton Bank was established, of which, with the exception of three 
weeks, in 1856, he was president till the day of his death. He 
was one of the founders of the Lynn Mechanics Insurance 
Company, which has been remarkably successful. 

Mr. Newhall was among those earliest interested in the Uni- 
tarian society, and continued through life to be one of its most 
active and generous supporters. 

He was also active in political matters, and in the days of 
anti-masonry was several times chosen a Representative to the 
Legislature. After the decline of the anti-masonic party he 
became a whig, and was elected to the Senate in 1843 and '44. 

There were but few matters of public interest or importance 
in which he did not take part. Being an active man, one of 
strong points and decided character, he was usually prominent. 
He was prompt, energetic, and far-seeing, and possessed very 
considerable skill as a financier. 

Mr. Newhall was intelligent, social, hospitable, and a man of 
rare integrity. In speech he was sometimes rather blunt ; but 
this perhaps arose more from his propensity to declare openly 
an honest conviction than a natural inclination to harshness. 
He was of a liberal disposition, and in mercantile affairs espe- 
cially, was a man of much influence. 

In 1818 he married Lydia, a daughter of Thompson Burrill, 
and a lineal descendant from Hon. Ebenezer Burrill, a biograph- 
ical sketch of whom may be found commencing on page 492 ; 
and his children were, Eliza, Persis, Henry F., Lydia A., Maria, 
B., and George T. 

Mr. Newhall died on the 2d of February, 1858, and was buried 
from his residence on Market street, opposite Summer. 



ISAAC NEWHALL. — 1782-1858. 

Mr. Newhall Avas born in Lynn on the 24th of August, 1782, 
and was a direct descendant from Thomas Newhall, the first of 
the name who settled in Lynn. He was for many years a mer- 
chant, and at one time did an extensive business. 

He was intelligent, and his literary attainment was considera- 
ble. In 1831 he published, in a well-printed duodecimo volume, 



BIOGRAPniCAL SKETCHES. — ISAIAH BREED. 541 

a series of letters addressed to Joliu Pickering, in which he 
endeavored to satisfy the world that Earl Temple was the au- 
thor of the Junius Letters. The work attracted considerable 
attention, though it failed to satisfy mankind that the great un- 
known were really unmasked. 

Mr. Newhall was twice married. His first wife was Sarah 
Lewis, a cousin of the Lynn Bard, whom he married in 1809, 
and by whom he had seven children — Sarah, Gustavus, Marga- 
ret, Horatio, Isaac, Martha A., and Louisa. He married his 
second wife in 1849, and by her had one daughter — Sarah M. 
In his youth, Gustavus manifested ambition for literary fame, 
and wrote a good many pieces, in prose and poetry, which ap- 
peared in the newspapers, and were well received. Mr. Lum- 
mus, of the Mirror, thought well of them, and I remember 
hearing Mr. Lewis speak of them as promising much ; but the 
promise was not fulfilled. 

Mr. Newhall resided from town a good portion of his active 
life, and was in business at Salem a number of years. But he 
returned to Lynn and spent his latter days at the old homestead, 
on the east side of Mall street, near the mill brook. There he 
died, on the 6th of July, 1858. As he was a brother of John 
M. Newhall, his genealogy may be traced by recurring to page 
487 of this volume. 



ISAIAH BREED. — 1786-1859. 

Mr. Breed descended from a respectable ancestry whose for- 
tunes were identified with the weal or wo of Lynn, from an 
early period. He was born on the 21st of October, 1786. At 
an early age he commenced labor upon the shoemaker's seat, 
whence he arose to become one of the most extensive and 
successful shoe manufacturers of his time. He became wealthy, 
and was liberal with his means, in all enterprises calculated to 
be of public benefit; and his private charities were large. He. 
was in active business for nearly fifty years, was president of 
Mechanics Bank more than thirty years, and was a member of 
the first board of Directors of the Eastern Raihroad. 

For several terms Mr. Breed was a Representative in the 
Legislature, and he was elected a Senator, in 1839; and though 
T2 



542 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

he was not gifted as an orator, his services as a trustworthy 
and industrious working member, were highly appreciated. In 
person he was commanding and in manners dignified. 

In his social relations — as a kind neighbor and fast friend — 
he was worthy of imitation ; and by his virtues he merited the 
respect of all. For a number of years he was a professing 
Christian of the Calvinistic school, and was most efficient in 
establishing the Central Congregational Society of Lynn, toward 
which he was ever generous with his means. 

Mr. Breed was twice married. His first wife was Mary Blake, 
and by her he had five children — Bartlett B., Abba M., Maiy 
A,, Isaiah C, and George R. His second wife was Sally P.; 
Moore, and by her he had five children — Lucilla P., Hervey C, 
Bowman B., Francis C, and James H. 

For many years his place of residence was at the northeast 
corner of Broad and Exchange streets, and there he died on 
the 23d of May, 1859. 



GEORGE HOOD. — 1806-1859. 

Mr. Hood was born in Lynn, on the 10th of November, 1806, 
and as soon as he had received the little school instruction 
common with dependent youth at that period, was put to shoe- 
making. He was of industrious habits and soon began to de- 
velop business talents of a high order. 

Just before arriving at the age of twenty -three — that is, in 
1829 — in company with John C. Abbott, who was then but 
nineteen years of age, he went forth into the wide world to 
seek his fortune. The united capital of these two enterprising 
and adventurous young men amounted to four hundred dollars. 
They directed their course to St. Louis, Missouri, then a very 
inconsiderable place compared with what it was destined soon 
to become through the energies of just such settlers as they. 
In a few days after arriving there they were established in 
business, and before a month had elapsed, Mr. Hood, with a 
part of their stock, went down to Natchez, in Mississippi, and 
commenced a branch establishment ; and the Natchez trade 
remained under his special charge till it was discontinued, in 
1835, the principal business all the time remaining at St. Louis. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — GEORGE HOOD. 543 

During the last uamed year, Mr. Hood returned and took up 
his abode at Lynn, commencing a commission shoe and leather 
store at Boston, though he retained an interest in the St. Louis 
business till 1841. In the Boston business he continued till the 
time of his decease. Mr. Abbott likewise proved himself a very 
energetic and successful business man ; and he also, after a few 
years returned to the east, and still resides in this vicinity. He 
was the first president of our City Bank, and is at present pres- 
ident of the Shoe and Leather Dealers' Insurance Company, of 
Boston. Mr. Hood had great boldness in his business enter- 
prises, almost, at times, approaching to rashness, yet his shrewd- 
ness and tenacity seldom failed to carry him safely through. 
He was high-minded and honorable in his transactions, and gen- 
erous toward those less fortunate than himself 

Not long after his return to the east, Mr. Hood became active 
in the political field. He was a member of the Democratic party, 
fought manfully for its interests, and was rewarded in various 
ways. In one of the gubernatorial campaigns, he was the ac- 
credited candidate of the party for Lieutenant Governor; and 
he was at another time the regular party candidate for a seat in 
the national Congress. In Lynn, he held the most responsible 
offices, and in all of them performed his duties with credit to 
himself and benefit to those who had entrusted him with the 
management of their afi\iirs. He had a strict eye to econ- 
omy in public expenditure, and a generous sympathy for all 
the dependent classes, especially the laboring and the poor, and 
was one of the foremost in breaking up the old custom of indef- 
initely protracted daily labor, and establishing the ten hour 
system, as it was called, which is alluded to under date 1850. 
He was several times chosen a Representative, was a Senator 
in 1843, and a member of the Constitutional Convention, in 1853. 

Mr. Hood was the first Mayor of Lynn, and held the office 
two years, administering aff'airs with economy, impartiality, and 
fidelity. The labor was great, for the machinery was new ; but 
he proved himself equal to the occasion. And there is abun- 
dant evidence of the confidence of the people in his ability 
and integrity, in the fact that he was elected Mayor, notwith- 
standmg he had all along been openly opposed to the adoption 
of the city form of government. He was a man of more than 



544 HISTORY OP LYNN. • 

ordinarj intelligence, and gifted with good practical common 
sense views. His mind was penetrating, and in the conduct 
of public affairs, particularly, he was accustomed to examine 
thoroughly into matters. 

But yet, after a more than ordinarily successful life, Mr. 
Hood's sun went down in a cloud. He died at the Asylum for 
the Insane, at Worcester, on the night of Monday, June 29, 
1859; and his body was brought to Lynn, and buried from 
his picturesque residence, at the foot of High Rock. 

Mr. Hood's wife was Hermione, a daughter of Aaron Breed. 
They were married on the 11th of September, 1833, and she 
survived him. They had thirteen children — Harriet M., George 
A., Adelaide M., Edwin E., Edwin, Julius S., Henrietta A., Henry, 
Caroline P., Aubrey, Ada H., Edward K., and Mary. 



ALONZO LEWIS. — 1794-1861. 

Mr. Lewis was born in Lynn, on the 28th of August,- 1794, in 
a house which still stands on the north side of Boston street, in 
the vicinity of Water Hill, and was the son of Zachariah Lewis. 
His lineage is given on page 181 of this History. 

As soon as he had arrived at a suitable age, he was put to 
the town school, and afterward became a pupil at Lynn Acad- 
emy. He evinced a strong desire to obtain something more 
than an ordinary education, and applied himself with such vigor 
and assiduity as gave sure presage of success. He never be- 
came a college graduate, but as early as his eighteenth year was 
qualified to teach a common school. At that age he took a 
school in Chester, N. H. There he remained but a short time, 
and then taught in Lynnfield. And it must have been about this 
period that the affecting episode occurred, which, as some of 
his friends have supposed, had a serious effect on all his after 
life; and of which something will be said hereafter. In 1823, 
he was preceptor of the Academy, though he remained in that 
position but a short time. For twelve years he taught in the 
public schools of his native place, and appears to have had an 
ardent love for his vocation, deeply regretting the time when 
circumstances rendered it necessary that he should abandon it. 
With touching emphasis he says, *' I commenced the profession 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 545 

of school teacher from the love of it, and devoted all my ener- 
gies to its advancement." One of his longest poems is entitled 
" The Schoolmaster ; '' and many passages might be collected 
from it showing his full appreciation of the stern realities as 
well as high enjoyments attendant on the profession. He says : 

I sing the Teacher's care, his daily pains, 
The hope that hfts him and the task that chains; 
His anxious toil to raise the gentle mind, 
His skill to clear the path for youth designed, 
His faithful watch 'o'er life's expanding ray, 
To guide young Genius up Improvement's way. 

And again : 

The Teacher's lot is filled with pain and care 

Which but devoted hearts are fit to bear. 

His rank and worth in freedom's cause are great, 

Surpassed by few that bless the public state. 

His is the task to fit the youthful mind 

For all the stations by its God designed. 

After Mr. Lewis had closed his labors as a teacher, he chiefly 
followed the occupation of a surveyor and architect. From the 
skill and rapidity with which he could handle his instruments 
and make his calculations, and the neatness and accuracy of his 
plans, he soon became so noted that his services were much in 
requisition. 

His judgment and good taste, also, particularly in the province 
of architectural embellishment, were conspicuous. Many charm- 
ing residences in their romantic nestling places among the hills 
and along the shores of Lynn, bear evidence of his accomplish- 
ments ; for, having an eye for the beautiful in art and nature, 
and a disciplined conception of harmony, he could not with 
patience behold the loveliness of the landscape marred by un- 
sightly structures, and hence was always ready to suggest and 
advise, and even to furnish plans, in instances where he knew 
the means of the recipients would not allow of their offering 
adequate pecuniary compensation. 

Mr. Lewis was three times married ; or rather twice, for his 
second companion was an ostensible rather than real wife, and 
from her he was soon separated. His first wife was Frances 
Maria Swan, of Methuen, Mass., a woman of eminent virtues and 
rare social attractions. By her be bad six children — Alonzo, 
T2* 35 



546 HISTORY OP LYNN, 

Frances Maria, Aurelius, Llewellyn, Arthur, and Lynnworth — 
and she died on the 27th of May, 1830. His other wife, whom 
he married on the 27th of August, 1855, was Annie Ilsley Han- 
son, of Portland, Me. ; and by her he had two children — Ina 
and Ion — the former of whom died a few months before her 
father, and the latter, with its widowed mother still survives. 
She proved to him a faithful and affectionate companion, no 
difference of taste and association, arising from their disparity 
of age — he having been her senior bj'' some thirty-six years — 
intervening to disturb their domestic tranquillity. The inter- 
mediate companion alluded to, went through the ceremony 
which he fondly believed was a valid marriage, in 1852, and 
which was thus announced in the newspapers : " Married, in 
Providence, R. I., by Rev. Henry Waterman, rector of St. Ste- 
phen's Church, Alonzo Lewis, the historian and poet of Lynn, 
Mass., to Miss Mary Gibson, of Boston, daughter of Rev. Willard 
Gibson, sometime of Windsor and Woodstock, Vt. We are in- 
formed that this is a veritable love-match in both parties ; they 
were engaged at the first meeting, and the day of their nuptials 
was fixed at the second. The fair bride is the daughter of an 
Episcopal clergyman, and is an orphan, having lost both pa- 
rents — only seventeen, beautiful, talented, and accomplished. 
The age of Mr. Lewis is 56." It will be noticed that in this 
case also there was a great difference of age — thirty-nine 
years ; and the supposed bride seems not to have outgrown 
some of her girlish fancies. It soon, however, to his astonish- 
ment and her confusion, appeared that she had a former hus- 
band still living — a young man who, from some cause had 
withdrawn from her side. If she were not derelict in principle, 
she must have been extremely thoughtless to suppose that her 
mere separation from the first husband would have warranted 
her in so hastily and unceremoniously taking a second. It 
might, however, have been that she supposed he was not living, 
as there appeared to have been reports of his death. In dispo- 
sition she was lively, with a dash of the romantic, and had ac- 
quired some reputation as a writer in the department of light 
literature. 

Mr. Lewis gained high commendation by his History of Lynn. 
And he was a poet as well as historian, for he produced many 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS.' 547 

verses which, under critical analysis, were conceded to fully 
entitle him to tlie exalted name. But he was not a voluminous 
writer. The history embraced but about two hundred and 
fifty octavo pages ; yet it was so condensed as to contain 
much more than its proportions would to appearance allow ; 
and unlike most works of the kind — indeed unlike most works 
of any kind — seemed in the mind of the reader as he proceeded 
to expand and shed more and more light. It has been said 
that historical works are always interesting. But there is an 
almost immeasurable difference in the degrees of interest. Mi- 
nute details often weary ; and yet they often possess an un- 
speakable charm. Their success depends upon the judgment 
with which they are chosen and the skill with which they are 
introduced. Who has not perused, again and again, the fasci- 
nating fiction of Robinson Crusoe ? And who does not perceive 
that without its minute details its enchantment would not exist? 
By an unskillful hand, the story might have been told in a man- 
ner that would have caused its rejection by the editor of a 
village newspaper. ]\Ir. Lewis's details are never wearying. 
And he had the happy faculty of introducing reflections and 
illustrations that opened extensive fields of useful thought ; 
a faculty which is of inestimable value in any writer. And his 
poems, though collectively insufficient, by force of mere bulk, 
to compel men to admit his claim to be a poet, were yet so pure 
in morality, so refined in flmcy, so apt in diction, that the intel- 
ligent and virtuous found in them much to deh'ght and improve. 
Of course those sensation stanzas and crude efi'usions which he 
occasionally threw off for temporary purposes, and to which 
he had the unaccountable propensity to frequently attach hia 
name, to the damage of his reputation, are not here taken into 
account, for they may be said not to have been produced by 
Mr. Lewis the poet, but by the ev6ry-day Mr. Lewis, who had 
a sudden impulse, with no time to tlunk or elaborate. 

Perhaps he indulged too much in contemplation to be prolific 
as a writer. The most contemplative are rarely industrious 
with the pen. Unless the words flow with almost miraculous 
freedom the task of writing wearies, and the mind soars from it 
as drudgery. Ambition to become famous is perhaps the strong- 
est incentive to what may be called the mechanical exertions of 



548 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

the literary devotee. And that Mr. Lewis possessed enough 
of this kind of ambition no one who was often in contact with 
him could for a moment doubt. But yet it was not sufBcient 
to overcome the sterner drawbacks to his pen. Say what we 
may, the man of genius who is dependent on his daily toil for 
subsistence, often finds a heavy weight upon his fancy's wing; 
though he who is blest with independence may as often permit 
fancy to fold her wings in inglorious ease. It may, however, 
have been that he thought the little he did was enough to estab- 
lish his fame. And so it was, in a circumscribed and local sense. 
His memory will be cherished by the people of his native place 
in distant years. But what multitudes there are born in every 
community who have within them, qualities that might make 
them shine, as poets, indeed, but yet whose lamps are never 
lighted. As fervid fires have glowed in the heart of some plod- 
ding teamster,, perhaps, as he traversed the glistening Beach 
which our friend so much loved to tread, as ever inspired a 
Byron. But the unlettered toiler never dreamed of perpetu- 
' ating his ardent conceptions in a way that would enable others 
to rejoice in their light ; never dreamed of applying his sturdy 
hand to the art of composition, an art which in truth requires 
tKe curbing of much of the airy freedom of thought, and which 
would bind by exacting rules. 

On his History and Poems the fame of Mr. Lewis, as a writer, 
rests, though he wrote a good deal besides; chiefly, however, 
on subjects that required little thought or investigation. Pieces 
of his appeared in the newspapers scattered over a period of 
more than thirty years; but they were so exclusively directed 
to some special object of local interest or usefulness that they 
met with no general observation. And here again the bad habit 
of signing his name to effusions prepared hastily and perhaps 
under excitement, would often assert itself to his prejudice, re- 
ducing the value of a good name. It must be one of extraordi- 
nary power and readiness who can add to his reputation in any 
such loose way. 

Mr. Lewis's celebrity as a writer, however unwilling we may 
be to concede it, remained rather local than general, notwith- 
standing his superior endowments. But this is perhaps attrib- 
utable to circumstances beyond his control ; for we know the 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 549 

aspirations of genius are often governed by the stern demands 
of daily life. And one may occasionally detect, even in his better 
poems, passages that seem to have escaped without due attei> 
tion, inducing the impression that the labor had become wea- 
rying, and relief been sought, by the pleasant path of mere 
description, from the sevt&rer realms of thought. Nude descrip- 
tion, however, while it may interest friends 'and neighbors, and 
those to whom the scenes described are familiar and dear, can 
never attain the highest and most enduring fame. Gray's Elegy 
could not have interested Daniel Webster, in his dying hour, as 
it is said to have done, simply as a description of scenes at Stoke- 
Pogis. In the great thoughts, so serenely, so simply, so truth- 
fully expressed, lay the real power that charmed and soothed 
the noble spirit from whose sight all the beautiful things of earth 
were so rapidly fading. Yet the untaught villager, w^ho home- 
ward plods his weary way athwart the glimmering landscape in 
that now hallowed vicinage, looking not beyond the mere de- 
Bcription, feels his heart stirred at the bare mention of things 
dear to him as incidents of his home. But when the poet takes 
his more extended course, ascending above mere description 
into regions glowing with thought, where mankind meet be- 
yond all local limits, he at once attracts the attention of those 
whose minds have been trained for the higher purposes of 
human life. Mr. Lewis was capable of ascending to that lofty 
region, and had he more often directed his flight thither would 
have secured a wider reputation. There are one or two desira- 
ble qualities, however, with which Mr. Lewis was not largely 
endowed. He had but little wit or humor — qualities so essen- 
tial to adorn and attract, and which can only be compensated 
for by the most eminent of the more dignified attributes. He 
had pathos but it was liable to manifest itself in such a form 
as to be mistaken for morbid sensibility. 

After what has been said, it is proper to introduce a few 
[selections from his poems, making choice of such as, on consid- 
erable reflection, are thought to convey the most clear idea of 
his general inclination of thought, his style, and execution; 
having an eye, likewise, to the illustration of his varying 
moods. Other pieces, however, which appear in different parts 
of this volume — " The Frosted Trees," for instance, introduced 



550 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

under date 1829, will not be overlooked. The first five of the 
extracts that follow, are from longer pieces, the title-lines being 
supplied. 

lover's leap. 

Delightful Rock ! that towering fair and high, 

Like fancy's vision rises on the view ! 

How oft at eve, when gentle breezes sigh, 

And the sun sets from skies of cloudless blue. 

The youthful lover turns liis steps to you, 

As anciently to famed LcucF.dia's sliore ! 

While sweetest charms his joyAil thoughts imbue. 

As summer tints spread out their smiling store. 

And winds through waving trees resound like ocean's roar. 

It is indeed a sweet romantic scene, 

As ever poet viewed at close of day ! 

The spreading forest, clad in richest green, 

The joyful birds that tune their evening lay. 

And sing their sonnets on the slender spray. 

The lofty cliff, most beautiful to see, 

Rising above the plain in bold array, 

TJie cheerful squirrel, chattering on the tree. 

That eats his food in peace, and chirps right merrily! 

These, and a thousand beauties more, display 

Their varied charms to greet the raptured sight ; 

While far along the streamlet winds its way 

Through fertile fields, that glisten with delight, 

And clover plats, with flowers enamelled bright, ^ 

That not a bee or butterfly will shun ; 

And in our view throngs many a mansion white. 

And ploughman, journeying home, when day in done, 

And the bright windows blaze beneath the setting sun. 

RELIGION. — A COMPARISON. 
High in the north, behold the Pole Star rise. 
Shining, like Virtue, through the darkened skies; 
While round its orb the faithful Pointers veer, 
And aid the seaman his lone bark to steer. 
So o'er the waves of this inconstant life, 
Above the storms of wo, and passion's strife. 
Religion's star with ceaseless lustre glows. 
To lead the pilgrim to his last repose ! 
While, by the tossing deep, with friendly hand. 
The faithful ministers of Jesus stand. 
Pointing aloft to that celestial ray, 
Which shines to light the darkness of our way! 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 551 

man's CHANGES. 
Man only changes. Man, tlie foe of man, 
Mars the bright work eternal Love began. 
3Ialignant passions in his bosom burn, 
And heaven's pure dews to noxious vapors turn. 
As desert fountains send their waters clear. 
To the bright flowers that on their banks appear, 
But through foid regions as they onward glide, 
Collect dark stains, and roll a turbid tide ; 
So gush pure thoughts in youth's extatic glow, 
Which sink in age to scenes of crime and wo. 

man's life. 

Our youth is fleeting as the fleecy cloud 

That sails across the summer moon ! and oh ! 

How beautiful its prospects are! — how proud 

The young heart beats ! — how warm the currents flow, 

Ere the strong veins have felt the power of wo ! 

But soon dark clouds our smiling skies deform, 

And we are sad. Such is man's life below ! 

A few dark days, a few long nights of storm, 

A few bright suznmer suns, all beautiful and waiTn. 

SUMMER RECREATION. 
In the sweet grove's romantic shade, 
For dearest joys of nature made, 
With a clear streamlet running by, 
Wliose mellowness relieves the eye. 
While from it pour upon the ear 
Such notes as poets love to hear. 
And all around, and overhead, 
Green leaves their soft refreshment shed, 
How sweet to sit, in summer day, 
Far from tlie sunbeam's scorching ray, 
Wiiile not a fear can intervene 
To blight the beauty of the scene; 
And there, beside the whispering brook, 
To pause o'er some delightful book. 

ON THE SEA SHORE. 
Along thy sandy margin, level Sea ! 
I wander with a feeling more sublime 
Than ever yet hath blest my heart, since Time 
Unfolded Nature's glorious pageantry ! 
^nd in deep silence while I gaze on thee. 
Thou living picture of a mighty mind! 



552 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

The joys of hope and memory combined 

Send their soft raptures through my thrilHng heart. 

The kindred scene recalls the memoiy 

Of friends with whom it was a pain to part, 

Of dear and early hours — then, with a start, 

As the wave ripples on the moonlit shore, 

I think of that high world, where Pain shall dart 

Her arrows through my heart and veins uo more! 

STORM AT NAHANT. 

Call up the Spirit of the ocean wave. 
And bid him rouse the storm ! The billows roar 
And dash their angry surges on the shore ! 
^ Around the craggy cliffs the waters rave, 
And foam and welter on the trembling beach ! 
The plovers cry, and the hoarse curlews screech, 
As, borne along by the relentless storm, 
With turned-up wings they strive against the wind 
The storm-tost ship can no sure haven find, 
But black-browed Death, in his most horrid form, 
Strides o'er the wave and bars her destined way. 
The wild winds in her slirouds their revels keep! 
And while the sailors seek the sheltering bay, 
Their last cry mingles with the roaring deep. 

THE EVENING BELL. 

How sweet and solemn is the sound, 

From yonder lonely tower. 
That sends its deep-toned music i"ound 

At twilight's holy hour ! 

When every sound of day is mute, 

And all its voices still, 
And silence walks with velvet foot, 

O'er valley, town, and hill. 

When every passion is at rest, 

And every tumult fled. 
And through the warm and tranquil breast 

The charm of peace is spread. 

O, then how sweet the solemn bell, 
That tolls to evening prayer! 

While each vibration seems to tell 
That thou, O God, art there ! 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 553 

SONG. 

O Love ! thou art n jojous thing, 

In this cold world of ours! 
And yet how oft tliy wayward wing 

Leaves thorns instead of flowers! 

Thy rosy path is glowing bright, 

With gems of heaven bestrewn ; 
Yet thou canst mingle in thy might, 

The dreaded thunder stone. 

Earth were indeed a cheerless place, 

Without thy soul-like smile ; 
And thou hast that in thy bright face 

Which can all ills beguile. 

The cold in heart may blame thy ti-uth, 

The void of soul may frown — 
The proud may seek to fetter j'outh, 

And crush its feelings down — 

Yet still thou art the sweetest one 

Of all the cherub train, 
Whose task is given beneath the sun 

To soothe the heart of pain. 

The foregoing specimens afford sufficient means whereby the 
reader may judge of the poetic talents of Mr. Lewis. When he 
set himself seriously at work he produced verses compact and 
polished. He was then rigidly artistic, fervor nor passion get- 
ting the better of settled rule. And his best poems bear the 
' strongest evidence of the most elaborate preparation, affording 
further evidence that labor and patience bestowed on composi- 
tion are not wasted. In no case, excepting where extraordinary 
genius leads the way, is it safe to trust to mere emotionary 
flights. I think Dr. Channing somewhere advises young min- 
isters or writers to think deeply and then write rapidly. That 
he himself thought deeply is evinced by the light that glows on 
every page; and he no doubt wrote rapidly; but as to what 
followed, let the printers of his generation come up as witnesses. 
His manuscript was interlined and re-interlined in such an extra- 
ordinary manner that it was almost beyond the power oT laan 
to decipher. And after it was in print, he made appalling havoc 
U2 



554 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

on the proof sheets. There were occasions when the proofs 
came from the Doctor's hand so much disfigured by alterations 
that the distressed printer found it most economical at once to 
distribute the types and re-set them. And when he examined 
even a second or third proof, numerous changes continued to 
be made in words and the collocation of sentences. But it was, 
without doubt, to this excessive polishing that his fame for 
elegance of composition was in a great degree attributable. 
His ideas were probably as full}^ expressed in the first instance ; 
but much of the magic effect flowed from the after marshalling 
of the expressions. Prescott, if I mistake not, somewhere says 
that in the final labor upon his works, he examined them sen- 
tence by sentence, to see if any improvement could be made. 
A beautiful lady is a sweet object in almost any garb ; but when 
she appears handsomely and becomingly clad, is most admired. 
And so of other things. 

There is seldom any thing startling or vivid found in the 
poems of Mr. Lewis. But his descriptions are animated, his 
expressions melodious, his rhymes good. There is a delightful , 
freshness about many of his illustrations ; an enduring value in 
his inculcations of purity and benevolence ; a touching languor 
in his pensiveness ; a charming earnestness in his faith. It has 
sometimes occurred to me that the severe criticism which ap- 
peared in the Cambridge Review, in 1831, had a serious effect 
on him, and was the occasion of his being virtually driven from 
a field he was so well fitted to adorn. No doubt that unfortu- 
nate paper was conceived rather in a spirit of heedless sport 
than malevolence. And had the writer seen the effect of his 
indiscretion that I saw, he certainly would have deeply re- 
gretted that he had not chosen some less sensitive subject to 
exercise his youthful satire upon. But had Mr. Lewis possessed 
the spirit and rcyolution of a Byron, he might have put his 
assailant to open shame, and turned the occurrence to the ben- 
efit of both. 

Of Mr. Lewis's prose writings nothing need be said in this 
connection. His entire history is embodied in the pages of this 
volume ; and his matter is so designated that it can be readily 
distinguished. 

He was for some time a newspaper editor; but m that 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 555 

capacity was not particularly successful, tbougli lie really made 
a useful and interesting sheet. Toward opponents he was 
inclined to manifest acerbity, and was, withal, a little egotis- 
tical. A certain amount of egotism really seems to set becom- 
ingly on some people, and is useful to them, if accompanied 
by good nature and employed with discretion; but as ex- 
ercised by Mr. Lewis it can hardly be said to have much 
improved him. 

In his earlier manhood he made some attempts at fictitious 
prose writing. But it was quite apparent that without severe 
discipline he could not succeed as a novelist. Much of the 
charm of that species of literature consists in well-sustained 
dialosrue ; and he did not seem able to divest himself of his own 
individuality to an extent sufficient to make his colloquists 
appear natural. 

He exhibited his poetical inclination in various ways besides 
the production of verses. For every locality that charmed, 
either from inherent beauty or historic association, he had an 
expressive name ; for the solitary glen of the forest and wild 
battlement of the shore he supplied a stirring legend; and many 
of the creations of his wealthy imagination will endure as long 
as the objects they adorn exist. 

In the material affairs of life Mr. Lewis was accustomed to take 
an eminently practical view. He had an earnest desire to pro- 
mote the permanent prosperity of his native place ; and many 
suggestions of his regarding the dry ramifications of trade were 
not unprofitably heeded. His public spirit was for many years 
conspicuous. As early as 1824 he began to labor for the pro- 
tection of the Beach, which he saw was in danger of being 
ultimately destroyed by the ravages of the tide. He pertina- 
ciously pressed for the erection of a substantial granite wall, 
such as would at once prove a safeguard from the assaults of 
the ocean, and a fitting embellishment of art to one of the most 
beautiful objects of nature ; and at one time he was much elated 
in the hope that government would undertake the work. But 
he was destined never to be gratified by the sight of a more 
substantial and comely erection than a line of red cedars with 
marine debris interwoven and flanked by an embankment of 
loose stones and sand. The construction of the road to Nahant 



556 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

along the harbor side of the Beach was an enterprise carried 
forward very much through his instrumentahty ; and it was a 
measure of great public utility, as any one who has ever been 
compelled by the tide to pursue his weary way upon the ridge, 
can testify. The light-house on Egg Rock was also established 
more through his exertions than those of any other. It is ques- 
tionable, however, whether in this matter, he did not allow his 
fancy to get the better of his judgment, as many have always 
thought that a light on the point of Nahant would answer quite 
as good a purpose, and be much more convenient. Yet it may 
not be true that the convenient is always to be esteemed above 
the ornamental and picturesque. The real question, without 
doubt, should be, which will in the largest degree conduce to 
improvement and enjoyment. The City Seal was drawn by him, 
and its emblematical representations afford evidence of his prac- 
tical turn and poetic conception ; though the engraver should 
have suggested that something a little more simple and clearly 
defined would have looked better. 

It can not be said that the life of Mr. Lewis was an event- 
ful one. No more striking incidents attended his career than 
fall to the common lot, with perhaps one or two exceptions. 
He spent almost the whole of his days in his native place, only 
once or twice, and then for brief periods, making his home 
elsewhere. 

His worldly condition can hardly be said ever to have greatly 
flourished. His mind was one that could not be seduced to the 
pursuit of wealth, as a leading object. While a teacher, his in- 
come was sufficient to supply all common wants, but insufficient 
to enable him to lay any thing by for future necessities. And aa 
in that capacity the vigor of his life was spent, when he was 
compelled to resort to other pursuits, his gains were often pre- 
carious. There were occasions, indeed, when by his own decla- 
rations, he was not exempt from absolute want. In November, 
1860, only two months before his death, he Avrites, " my daily 
support is a daily miracle." But it is not to be believed that 
he many times found himself in any thing like an extremity of 
want, surrounded as he was by those who would have deemed 
it a privilege to minister to his necessities, but who, from feel- 
ings of delicacy, might not, under mere suspicion, make proffers 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 557 

that they feared he would, in a moody moment, repulse as ob- 
trusions. 

The mind of Mr. Lewis was of a peculiarly sensitive texture, 
and constantly clisturbed by what to most persons would seem 
but trivial occurrences. He was likewise keenly alive to the 
opinions of others; and his thirst for praise almost assumed the 
form of an absolute disease; yet his mind was of too high an 
order to be satisfied with the cheap compliments that were 
bestowed upon liim. And in his case was furnished a notable 
instance of a longing for that which, when attained, had no 
power to satisfy. Some minds are of such noble qualit}' that 
they receive the praise of the mean, vulgar, and wicked, as an 
indignity. But it is quite as much as can be expected of most 
people, that they look with indifference on the censure or praise 
of the wrong minded. And if Mr. Lewis had disciplined him- 
self to this he would have passed a great many more happy 
hours. Constituted as he was, it will be perceived that he could 
not always be at peace with those around him, for few are 
accustomed to overlook demands engendered by such a temper, 
demands which might not unfrequently be put forth with aspe- 
rity and petulance. But beneath his sometimes unpromising 
surface there always dwelt that which was really noble and 
congenial ; and many a cultivated mind has passed with him 
intervals of sweet and profitable communion. 

It is not worth while to deny that every one loves to see his 
name in honorable connection, in print. And in a local history, 
almost every person who has in any way made himself conspic- 
uous, expects that his name will appear. I have heard Mr. 
Lewis censured for not noticing this or that individual, as if 
his silence arose from prejudice. But the complaints were as 
likely, perhaps, to have had their origin in wounded pride as in 
an honest desire that the most healthful examples should be 
presented. Reflection will convince every reasonable person 
that many are conspicuous in ways that it would do no good to 
celebrate, and that multitudes who are known only in the most 
circumscribed sphere are more deserving of having their names 
perpetuated. The historian must himself act as judge in all 
such matters, and is presumed to have a conscientious appreci- 
ation of his responsibilities. And be far better shows his integ- 
U2* 



558 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

rity by silence than by elevating the unworthy, who, from 
some meretricious surroundings have become objects of momen- 
tary observation. That Mr. Lewis had strong antipatliies and 
prejudices, his most ardent friends would not deny. But that 
he was unable to exercise sufficient control over them to pre- 
vent their having au influence in the preparation of his History, 
we will not admit. 

He had a kind heart, and few were more ready to aid others, 
though his interest might be compromised by his benevolence. 
He never turned his back upon such as came recommended by 
misfortune. And numberless good offices did he perform with- 
out the hope of reward and without receiving even the cheap 
return of gratitude. Still more; many and many a time was he 
subjected to the severe trial of suffering the taunts of those in 
prosperity whom he had befriended in adversity ; a trial so 
much beyond the common limit of human endurance that the 
mind which can escape unembittered must be more than ordi- 
nary. And when, under such trials, he was led to complain, 
his complaints should not so often have been regarded as the 
mere ebullitions of a diseased sensibility. In the piece just 
quoted from he says, " Within a short time I have been taunted 
in the street for my poverty." 

That large class of unenlightened men who are ruled by the 
love of money are accustomed to view the poor, however meri- 
torious or exalted by genius, with disdain. But the men of 
genius, even while they can really feel nothing but contempt 
toward their arrogant brethren, generally have sufficient saga- 
city to avoid offending them, as from them they may, by that 
flattery which always reaches the vulgar mind, derive benefits — 
the flattery which supposes intellectual superiority. But Mr. 
Lewis's mind was not one that could easily yield to the airs of 
the supercilious, and hence he often subjected himself to indig- 
nities where the cringing would have received favors. He says, 
" If I, like others, had devoted my life solely to my own interest, 
I might now be reveling in wealth ; but your hundred thousand 
dollar men, who never knew what it was to want a meal of 
victuals, can have no idea of him who has to support a family 
without means." This is a mournful truth ; but Mr. Lewis was 
not the man to make it known in a way to ensure relief lu his 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 559 

Complaints, which he occasionally put forth in the public prints, 
he was rather inclined to take a step beyond the sublime in 
pathos, and his emotional extravagances excited feelings very 
different from pity. Witness the following: ''I have spent 
more than forty years in endeavoring to convince the world 
that loVfe is the essence of true religion, and no person ever 
lived in Lynn who has been so much abused, lampooned and 
traduced as I." He probably wrote this in a moment of excite- 
ment occasioned by the taunt of some vulgar assailant, who by 
most men of his understanding would have been passed by un- 
noticed ; and he should not have hastened to a printing oflice 
and sent it forth under his own hand ; for the truth is that it 
would be difficult to point to another individual in the whole 
history of Lynn, who presented himself as such a shining mark, 
and escaped with so little lampooning. 

Mr. Lewis was eminently what is called a self made man ; and 
to his industry and perseverence as much as to his natural gifts 
was his success in the way of fame to be attributed. But it 
may be assuming something to say that industry and perseve- 
rence are not as much natural gifts as any others, though usu- 
ally they are spoken of rather as habits. Indeed is it not true 
that the great majority of those who are conspicuous, not to 
say illustrious, in the world, have no intellectual superiority 
over the mass of those by whom they are surrounded, but are 
raised by vigorous and continued effort in the pursuit of a defi- 
nite object? But not many possess that earnest persistency 
without which very few indeed can ascend the heights of renown. 
And how many, be it repeated, feel, all their lives that they 
have that within, which, if developed, would exalt, but who yet 
dream their lives away, finding at the close that they have but 
floated along, with the common tide, day by day gilding their 
dreams with the expectation that the time was approaching 
when they were to arouse and valiantly pursue the upward 
career. It seem as if there were a destiny shaping our ends. 

A great poet has said that Providence prepared a niche for 
every man. But if that be the case, one is almost constrained 
to believe that it was left for each to find his own, and that 
most niches had, through blindness or perversity, become filled 
by wrong occupants. Somehow early habits, social attractions, 



560 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

or drear misfortune seem to have intervened to prevent what 
might have been, and we behold the wit of a Voltaire spent in 
raising a laugh among sooty-faced workmen ; the reflection of a 
Newton in calculating the moves on a greasy checker-board ; 
the skill of a Linnaaus in arranging posies for a country lass. 
These are incidents which appear among the mysteries of human 
life ; and there are others. Do we not every day behold in 
high places of honor and trust multitudes who would better 
become the miller's frock or fisherman's fear-naught; in the 
pulpit and at the bar numbers who should never have looked 
beyond the lumber woods or arable fields for their spheres of 
usefulness? 

Under the baleful influence of an inordinate love of money, 
many denounce the person who is not constantly toiling in some 
pursuit the end of which is mere pecuniary gain, as indolent, or 
in. some way deluded. And if they are able to perceive and 
appreciate any thing of intellectual superiority or moral exalta- 
tion, they avoid an open and honest recognition of it, afi'ecting 
to despise what they cannot attain. And the world's censures 
drive many timid souls from the higher path of duty and enjoy- 
ment. It must have been delightful to the mind of Mr. Lewis, 
as it is to every enlightened mind, to divest itself of the clog- 
ging interests of the present and flee to the communion of the 
noble and virtuous of the past. Most men live only in the 
present, having no apprehension of their power to enjoy ex- 
tended lives, lives reaching back to times over which multiplied 
years have thrown a lustrous veil. But the intelligent lover 
of history has this illimitable field of enjoyment open before 
him ; here he holds communion with the better representatives 
of our race, undisturbed by the agitations of active life around 
him ; here he comes, a quiet spectator of the great drama 
which has been performing ever since thej world began. While 
the selfish and sordid see no benefit or enjoyment in thus re- 
verting to the past, the philosopher and philanthropist deem it 
among the most useful and elevating occupations of mankind. 
It has been said that were it not for the historian or the bard, 
the greatest name would soon pass into oblivion. And without 
the historian or the bard the most brilliant era would soon 
become obscured. To them is the world indebted for the safe 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 561 

transmission of all that is worthy of being handed along from 
age to age, for the preservation of noble names and useful 
knowledge. And do not these reflections suggest that our littlo 
community owes a debt of gratitude to the Historian and Bard 
who labored to maintain a record of her worthies and to per- 
petuate a memory of her pleasant scenes? 

That Mr, Lewis himself had a more than ordinary craving for 
posthumous fame is not to be denied. And with such a longing 
it is not remarkable that he should have been willing to labor 
w^^ithout the hope of any such reward as with most people 
would be the incentive to diligence. While in a strictly moral 
sense such a craving may not be applauded, it yet may. make 
the possessor an instrument of much good. And in the case 
of our friend, the beneficial results were very great. A mind 
constituted like his derives much pleasure from the pursuit of 
its darling object. And he no doubt received the most satisfac- 
tory compensation for his toil in the conviction that his fame 
w^ould survive and his name be lauded through generation after 
generation. And his name and his fame will survive — survive 
and be green in the memory of men long after the great mul- 
titude of those of our community who proudly conceived them- 
selves essential to the welfare of the world, are forgotten; 
though a better fate will attend the names of those few whose 
meritorious acts gave them a place in his History. 

Multitudes begin a good course with energy, pursue it to a 
certain point, and then relax their efforts, having gained, as 
they would have it, the point for which they strove. And 
these, having set their standard too low, quit the world without 
having accomplished half that was in their power. And it is 
doubtful whether Mr. Lewis should not be ranked among these. 
He certainly did not do all he was capable of doing. After the 
production of his larger volume of Poems, and his History, he 
seemed to feel as if his work were chiefly done. His mind, though 
it returned often and lingered fondly about the pleasant paths 
of literature, appeared soon to weary and turn to other pur- 
suits. But circumstances that he could not govern may have 
enforced this seeming indifi'erence, for he says, referring to a 
proposed new edition of his History, "In the morning I set 
about the History of Lynn, but my wife comes in and inquires, 

36 



562 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

'What are we going to have for dinner?' " — an inquiry which 
certainly might, under the embarrassments of real penury, be 
expected to have a depressing effect. As a general thing, 
email pecuniary returns attend literary labor. And praise is 
better calculated to satisfy an empty head than an empty stom- 
ach. The two editions of his History, Mr. Lewis asserted, in a 
newspaper article, in 1860, were published at a loss. In a Lynn 
paper of the 22d of June, 1844, which was a few weeks before 
the issuing of the second edition, the editor remarks " We are 
informed by Mr. Lewis that he began at the pond on the Com- 
mon and went to Emes's factory, in Saugus, and obtained only 
fifteen subscribers." And it is not at all probable that he was 
more successful with his Poems than with his History, for the 
market value of prose is generally above that of poetry. 

Such were the contrarieties of temper possessed by Mr. Lewis, 
that he was like no other man ; and it was common for even his 
intimate friends to remark that they did " not know how to 
take him." It would be difficult to analyze his character, and 
unfair to examine it by any but the most flexible rules. 

In early "life he had turns of dejection. And after he had 
arrived at manhood, similar turns, in two instances, matured 
into insanity, and it was found necessary to place him in an 
asylum. But in his later years, the turns were rather of irrita- 
bility than dejection. 

And this seems a proper place to state that some of the 
friends of Mr. Lewis have thought that his whole after character 
was affected by an affair of the heart which transpired in youth. 
He had become ardently attached to a young lady who could 
not reciprocate his tender impressions. And when he became 
convinced that it would be fruitless to prosecute his suit, a 
period of deep depression supervened, weighing down his 
spirits for months. The details of such affairs are not often 
made public ; and as the pain is endured in sacred privacy few 
can readily perceive, in a given case, the sufficiency of the cause 
for the effect. The world is altogether too apt to scoff at such 
occurrences, and by unfeeling taunts increase the anguish of 
the wounded heart ; they pity one who has lost a few dollars, 
but for the yearning heart that cannot attain its dearest object 
have nothing better than a sneer. There was certainly some- 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 563 

thine: in the character of Mr. Lewis that bore likeness to one 
thus affected. He had times of sadness when outward affairs 
seemed brightest, and times of irritability, apparently arising 
from a disturbance of the contemplation of softened memories. 
In religion, Mr. Lewis was somewhat vacillating, at least so 
far as the outward manifestation was concerned, he having at 
different times joined various professing bodies — the Calvinistic 
Congregationalists, Methodists, and Quakers, for instance. But 
he never swerved from a cordial acceptance of the christian 
faith, and for the best part of his life was a member of the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church, doing much to sustain the early foot- 
holds of Episcopal worship in Lynn. I should judge from his 
occasional remarks, that among his accepted doctrines Avas that 
of predestination, in an enlarged sense, though it did not appear 
day by day to yield in him its ripest fruits, for it seems to be a 
doct«ne, which, whether true or false, if fully and cordially em- 
braced, must impart a very great degree of rest and comfort to 
the mind. So long as a man imagines himself capable of shaping 
bis own destiny, he will remain restless and unsatisfied. But 
if he sincerely believes himself the chosen instrument to work 
out the will of a beneficent Superior, and has disciplined him- 
self to the docile performance of his behests he will feel an in- 
describable freedom from disturbing cares and distrusts. If his 
condition is humble he is contented, because he is there, a 
necessary link in the great chain that binds time to eternity, 
dim for a while, but perhaps in the course of events to become 
as bright as any. If he is in affluence he feels no pride, because 
no merit of his own placed him there; and though the same 
Providence that assigned to him his present position may here- 
after have a very different one for him to occupy, he feels pre- 
pared courageously to meet what he cannot escape. The hearty 
predestinarian is unassuming in prosperity, patient in adver- 
sity, unmoved amid the greatest calamities, heroic on the 
redest battle field. What did the doctrine do for the early 
New England settlers — what for the champions of the English 
Commonwealth? But there is such a propensity to throw the 
shadows of a grim and exacting theology over it, when all 
should be trustful, bright, and hopeful, that it becomes cheer- 
less and repulsive to many a warm heart. To such a mind as 



564 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

that of Mr. Lewis, it seems as if, in its full acceptance and 
effect, it must have been an inexhaustible source of comfort. 

There was nothing particularly striking in the personal ap- 
pearance of Mr. Lewis ; ^^et he would generally have been 
noticed as one of marked character. He was of medium height, 
good form, and erect carriage. His head was large, his fore- 
head high, his eye bright. He had a pleasant smile, but seldom 
indulged in a hearty laugh. During most of his manhood, he 
closely shaved his beard ; but for his last few years that digni- 
fied appendage was allowed to take its natural course, with 
now and then a slight trimming. Up to middle life he was 
rather more than ordinarily careful in the matter of dress, 
though never foppish. But in his latter days he hardly paid 
that attention to exterior appearance becoming one in his posi- 
tion. He never, however, appeared in a garb that the fastidious 
need call unseemly. Black, the more genteel color of tlie day, 
he seldom chose, preferring gray or some other modest mixture. 
A cloth cap or low-crowned hat usually adorned his head. 

He was thoughtful, but not abstracted; and whether in com- 
pany or in the street, nothing worthy of remark was liable to 
escape his notice. He was fond of attending scientific, philan- 
thropic, and other lectures, and often, when a fit occasion 
presented, took the opportunity to express his approval or 
disapproval of what was uttered. And he was not opposed to 
any rational amusement. 

His constitution was naturaljy good, and capable of great 
endurance, as the severe tests to which he Was subjected in his 
surveying excursions, during the inclement seasons, abundantly 
proved. About two years before his decease, he greatly fiiiled 
in health, though he kept about, and to a considerable extent 
attended to his ordinary duties. His supposition was that he 
had been poisoned, while surveying in the woods. His final 
disease, however, was softening of the brain. It is not likely 
that he suffered much pain, and his last hours were passed in 
an unconscious state. 

In his picturesque little cot by the sea side he breathed his 
last, on Monday the 21st of January, 1861 — the little cot. reared 
partly by his own hands, which had been his home for many 
years ; where he loved to study and to muse ; to watch the 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — ALONZO LEWIS. 



565 



serene light that proclaimed the peace of nature, or the weird 
mist that heralded the roaring storm ; where the spent waves, 
whispering beneath his window, calmed his spirit for nightly 
repose, and the solemn pulsations df" the mighty deep swelled 
in majestic harmony with the lone throbs of his poetic soul ; 
where the wail of his ocean dirge may still be heard ; and where 
he penned these entreating though unheeded lines. 

O, bury nie not in the dark old woods, 

Where the sunbeams never shine ; 
Where mingles the mist of the mountain floods 

With the dew of the dismal pine ! 
But bury me deep by the bright blue sea, 

I have loved in life so well ; 
Where the winds may rome to my spirit free, 

And the sound of the ocean shell. 

O, bury me not in tlie churchyard old, 

In the slime of the doleful tomb ! 
Where my bones may be thrust, ere their life is cold, 

To the damp of a drearier gloom! 
But bury me deep by the bright blue sea, 

Where the friends whom I loved have been ; 
Where the sun may shine on the grass turf free, 

And tlie rains keep it ever green ! 




SAGAMORE COTTAGE — ^SIDENCE OF ALONZO LEWIS.) 



Mr. Lewis was buried from the Central Congregational meet- 
ing-house, in Silsbe street, on Wednesday, the 23d of January. 
The day was cloudy, damp and chill, and there was a singu- 
Y2 ^ 



566 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

larly small attendance. The bouse was cold, the services were 
brief, and attended by no special solemnity. Some passages of 
Scripture were read, the choir sang a few appropriate strains, and 
an extemporaneous prayer was offered. But no eulogy or dis- 
course of any kind was uttered. The remains were exposed to 
view, for a short time, in the porch, and thence conveyed to 
their last resting place, in the Old Burying Ground near the west 
end of the Common, where his father and mother lay. 

And so passed from earth Alonzo Lewis, the historian and 
bard of Lynn — a man who labored much for the good of others, 
and especially rejoiced in the prosperity of his native place — 
who in life was often called to drink of a bitter cup, but who, 
God grant, may have an overflowing cup of joy in the world to 
which he has gone. 



DANIEL COLLINS BAKER.— 1816-1863. 

Mr. Baker was born in Lynn on the 12th of October, 1816, 
and was a son of Elisha Baker. His parents were Quakers, and 
he was a pupil at the Friends' Boarding School, in Providence, 
R. L On the 19th of December, 1838, he married Augusta, a 
daughter of John B. Chase, the ceremony taking place accord- 
ing to the custom of the Friends ; but he did not continue in 
the faith of his fathers. He had three children — William E., 
Helen, and Sarah E. 

Mr. Baker was a man of great activity in business, and stood 
so well at the time the Howard Banking Company, of Boston, 
went into operation, that he was chosen its president. Good 
fortune, however, did not always attend his operations ; and 
particularly by the disastrous termination of the great Nahant 
Hotel project he met with considerable loss. 

For some years he was a zealous politician, and frequently 
in ofBce. In 1849 and '50 he was elected to the Senate; at the 
organization of our first City Government he was chosen Presi- 
dent of the Common Council; and in 1853, he was elected 
Mayor. As a presiding officer, he stood high, disposing of busi- 
ness with facility and demeaning himself with great courtesy. 

Mr. Baker was a little inclined to display, and joined heartily 
in public entertainments and political demonstrations. He was 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — BENJAMIN F. NEWHALL. 567 

liberal in sentiment, free in expenditure, convivial in habit, and 
had a kind heart. He built the fine residence on Franklin 
street, opposite Laighton, and resided there for a number of 
years. His death took place on the'lOth of July, 1863, at New 
Orleans, where he had been doing business for some months. 



BENJAJVIIN FRANKLIN NEVVHALL. — 1802^1863 
Mr. Newhall was born in that part of Lynn now constituting 
Saugus, on the 29th of April, 1802. He was a son of Jacob, 
who was born November 1, 1780, and was a son of Jacob, known 
as Landlord Newhall, who was born May 3, 1740, and was a son 
of Locker, who was born November 12, 1708, and was a son of 
Jacob, who was born March 27, 1686, and was a grandson of 
Thomas, the first white person born in Lynn, ' 

The circumstances of Mr. NewhalPs father were such, that he 
was early taught the necessity of self-dependence ; and naturally 
possessing an inclination to accumulate, he soon formed habits 
of industry and frugality. But in his first labors he had a 
higher incentive to diligence than the selfish one of mere accu- 
mulation. The necessities of a loving mother with other help- 
less children, stimulated him to the most strenuous exertion. 

Some time before his death he prepared a sort of autobiograr 
phy, in which many of his early struggles and experiences are 
detailed in a manner always interesting and often aifecting ; and 
an occasional passage from it will add much to the value of this 
sketch. The following, which is found under date 1815, and 
relates to his mother, can hardly fail to be read with emotion. 
And who will not be ready to say that with such a mother, a 
child who would not do his best must be hopelessly perverse. 
The growth of the religious element, which was so conspicuous 
in his character throughout all his active life, and which often 
attracted the attention of his business associates, is easily ac- 
counted for. He says : 

How well do I remember in the late hours of night, when father was away and 
her dear ones were sleeping, t])at she would come to my bed-side, and kneel- 
ing with ovei*flowing heart pour out her soul in prayer that God would pre- 
sen'e her darling boy from the snares so thick around him. She thought I 
was a«leep, but I was awake aiid the silent tear moistened my young cheek, 



568 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

and I avowed before God, that a mother's prayers should not be in vahi. How 
often she thus kneeled at my bed-side when I was asleep, I know not, but, 
doubtless quite often. 

How many times I wished that I were older, and had some good work so 
that I could support her. I frequently entreated her for work, but not shoe- 
making, as I could not like that. I often used to go into the chocolate mill, 
and soon learned to handle the pans, paper the chocolate, and do other light 
work. I liked it, and begged her to get me a chance in tlie mill. But she 
told me that only men worked there. I was sorry, but not disheartened. 

He however got a chance in the mill, and then commenced 
his first regular work, though he had previously assisted his 
father a little in the shoemaker's shop. But he had a great 
dislike for shoemaking. At this time he was thirteen years old. 

Autumn came, and the chocolate making commenced early and promised 
well. I implored my mother to get me work. She went to Mr. Ciiilds and 
told her story. He said if I could work well I might come in. Well ! I knew 
what I could do, and never was a boy better pleased than I when I heard the 
decision. My mother made me a frock of a cocoa bag, and I was proud as a 
king. Never shall I forget the day when all arrayed I marched to the mill and 

went to work. Old and were the men. [The names are all given 

in the manuscript, but for obvious reasons should not all aj^pear in print.] 

drank a great deal of rum, and was cross and ugly ; but I was determined 

to please him, for I knew that there all my hopes depended ; he was master, 
and what he said was law ; even Mr. Childs dared not dispute him. When 
he spoke, I sprang, and ran, obeying his every nod. Besides that, I did the 
very work he wished me to do, and no other. I soon got his good will, and he 
was always kind to me. 

But to come back to the work. I, a boy not fourteen years old, and the 
business requiring labor night and day, found it hard. To go to work at 
sunset and continue till sunrise, four nights in the week, T could scarcely 
endure, and sometimes declared — "This shall be my last night." But when 
the beautiful sun shone in the morning I felt better, and encouraged to go on. 
I hated shoemaking, and was yet determined to earn something for my mother. 
If I could earn eighty-three cents a day by working night and day, it was to 
me a great sum. I now think that such labor for a boy was too much ; but I 
was ambitious. My mother often wept at my exposure and extreme labor ; 
and perhaps I am now reaping the harvest grown from the seed then sown. 
Sometimes she would say that the work was too hard, and I had better quit 
it ; but 1 could not think of it ; work I must, and work I would. Mr. Childs 
would stand and look with astonishment to see me paper the chocolate so 
much faster than was ever done before. From the beginning to the end of a 
week I did not get into a bed. When the tide was over we would spread the 
hot cocoa, and throwing a bag over it make it a bed. In cold weather, the 
steaming cocoa was inviting ; but I now think its effects were bad. But with 
all the hard work and suffering, I got through my first winter at the mill ; how 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — BENJAMIN F. NEWHALL. 569 

I bore tho fatigue God only knows ; some unseen hand supported me ; and 
when I was just on the {)oint of giving up, several times, some impulse of 
mind forbade it. God helped me. 

Passing on to 1818, when he was sixteen years old, wo find 
him still persevering in labor, stimulated by the same high 
motives. 

In the spring of 1818, having got through with mill work, my mother en- 
gaged me to go to work for Jesse Rice, on Nahant. So the next morning I 
started for my new field of labor. I was pleased with the idea, and thought 
how pleasant it would be to work at Nahant in summer. My labor was farm- 
ing I went to work with earnestness, but soon found tiiat Mr. Rice needed 
an experienced farmer and a strong man. I could not hold a heavy plough, 
with two yoke of oxen ; I bad not learned to, and was not stout enough ; Mr, 
Rice saw it and was sorry ; and so was I. After a week's trial, he told me 
that the work was beyond my strength, and I had better seek some lighter 
labor. He said that when I grew older and stouter I might come again. I 
thanked him, he paid me well, and I returned home. 

This season I learned to blow rocks ; and the work being new, I took hold 
in earnest. For a while I did not charge the rocks, but before long I learned 
to, and could do it as well as any body. 

I think it was in June [1818] that Mr. Smith sent for me to go up and tend the 
" chipper." This was a machine to cut up the small blocks of cam-wood, to 
chips, so that tliey could be ground. It was a dangerous machine, and several 
had already been injured by it. Smith cautioned me to be very careful ; and 
the caution was well given. I have often wondered how my mother dared 
to risk me at such dangerous work. All went on well enough for a while. I 
thought myself master of the business and grew heedless. One day in care- 
lessness I put my left thumb under the axe, and cut it off. I started, and 
could hardly believe my thumb was lost, having scarcely noticed the accident 
by the pain ; a pin's prick would have hmt me more. I took the severed 
member, put it on its place, and started for the house, holding it on. Smith 
saw me coming ; I saw him, and remembering his caution, laughed. He said, 
" You have cut off your fingers." I went in, sat down, and he took a good 
sized needle and thread and sewed it on. 1 bore it pretty well, and after it 
was done started for home. My mother was sorry, and wept, and at once 
sent me down to Dr. John l^mmus, that he might look at it. He examined 
it and expressed some doubt about saving the thumb, but said he would try. 
The night following was dreadful, I slept none, and in the morning went 
down to the Doctor's again, repeating my visits to him for several successive 
days. Finally the severed thumb was cast into the fire, and the wound dressed ; 
and it was nearly two months before I got well. 

The foregoing is sufficient to give an idea of the early strug- 
gles of this more than ordinary man. And we must pass on 
again, till we reach the year 1825, when he was twenty-three 
V2* 



570 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

years of age, about which time, in company with another, he 
commenced a small trading establishment in Canada. Thither 
he made two or three journeys. But on the whole they were 
unsuccessful, and the enterprise was abandoned. After various 
other trials, successes, and mishaps, he arrives at the age of 
twenty-eight. He had now, 1830, just returned from Canada, 
having closed up there, and goes on to speak of his condition, 
prospects, and determination, as follows: 

I reached home in safety the next day, and found all well as usual. I was 
glad to get once more where I was known, though 1 hardly knew what to do 
with the debts wliich I owed on the store business. However, by the assist- 
ance of my uncle Makepeace 1 paid up the small debts, and got one or two 
of the largest creditors to wait. The next step was to get into some business, 
that I might support my family. The shoe business presented the fairest 
prospect, as I tliought ; so I hired a small room in the upper part of what is 
now the Henry Nichols house, got trusted for one bundle of leather from Isaac 
Bassett and a dozen of kid from John Lovejoy, and hired of John Emerton 
fifty dollars, giving him a mortgage on my horse and wagon for security. 
With this small outfit I went to work, fully determined that nothing on my 
part should be wanting to ensure success. I kept an exact account of all I 
bought and sold, so tiiat I might at any time know whether I was making a 
profit. Every thing in business was as dull as could be and workmen were 
hard to be got. But perseverance and prudence were my motto. After three 
months of close application, I found a little had been made. This was to me 
encouraging, and I labored on. Never shall I forget how hard it was to sell 
shoes in Boston. The seller had to beg, and be insulted besides. But no 
discouragements deterred me ; and I now look back and see a kind and over- 
ruling Providence in all. 

I considered this the beginning of life with me, and felt determined to suc- 
ceed, if prudence and economy would ensure success. I began with the 
determination not to give a note if I could avoid it. So, buying as I did, on a 
credit, I let accounts run six months, and then contrived to settle them 
either by giving some business note which I took, or making the payment in 
cash. After a short time I made my plan work well. The first of Januaiy 
and the first of July, in every year, were to be ^y settling times with every 
one. Most of my accounts would then have run six months, and I was entitled 
to three months more clear credit on a note. When the first of January came 
I had passed all my fall sales, and had notes or cash for the same. When the 
fij-st of July came I had made all my spring sales, and had cash and notes for 
them. So the advantage of fixing on these dates for settlements will be seen. 
I could then endorse the business paper that I had taken and thus settle all 
my bills, or could get notes discounted and pay the cash. 1 got this machinery 
of business well established, and never deviated from it in all the time that I 
followed the business. Thomas Raddui had then got into a fair business and 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — BENJAMIN P. NEWHALL. 571 

had established a good credit at the Commercial Bank, in Salem, and he intro- 
duced me to the president, Willard Peele, Esq., and thus I obtained the 
advantage of getting a discount as often as I wanted one. This was every 
thing to me, as money mattei-s were then situated. I was very punctual in 
all my payments, and so my credit gi-e\v better and better. 

It would be instructive as well as interesting to follow liim 
in his business operations all the way up till the time when 
he became firmly established as one of the most successful, 
shrewd, and wealthy business men in the vicinity, and speak 
more at large of his integrity, promptness, perseverance, and 
industry ; but allotted space will not permit. His projects were 
often bold, but never characterized by that reckless adventure 
so often seen among those who make haste to be rich. II© 
by no means confined himself to one kind of business, but com- 
monly, to use an expressive phrase, had several irons in the fir© 
at the same time ; yet he was so active and watchful that non© 
appeared to suffer for want of attention. 

Mr. Newhall's education was procured at the common school, 
with the exception of a short attendance at the New Market 
Academy, and the more important exception of his own privat© 
application. He was qualified to teach in the common schools 
of the time, when he was a young man, and did teach, for on© 
or two brief periods, before he became settled in business. 

The religious element was always strong in his mind. H© 
became a professing Christian while a youth, joined the Metho- 
dist connection, and preached a little before he had attained his 
majority. He however, some years afterward, swerved from th© 
faith he first professed and became a Universalist. He was a 
man of strictly moral life and a friend to all enterprises calculated 
to promote morality and education. In public affairs he took a 
"Warm interest, and originated a number of beneficial projects. 

On the 25th of April, 1825, he married Miss Dorothy Jewett, 
of Hebron, Ct., and had six children — Benjamin, Charles J., 
Herbert B., Wilbur F., Ellen M., and Alice A. 

He was a man of medium stature, and in the prime of life was 
active in his movements, and capable of enduring much fatigue 
and exposure. But for two or three years before his death, h© 
suffered greatly from chronic rheumatism, which reduced him 
to the sad condition of a cripple. He kept about as long as 



572 HISTOEY OP LYNN. 

possible, but for many months was almost the whole time con- 
fined to his room, and much of the time to his bed. It was a 
sore trial to him, for his mind was as vigorous as ever. Yet 
he bore his afHiction with a patience and resignation seldom wit- 
nessed, though his pains were at times excruciating. He often 
sat up in bed to write down his thoughts, to read, or arrange 
those worldly matters which he knew were soon to pass into 
other hands. He died on Tuesday, the 13th of October, 1863. 

It now remains to speak of Mr. Newhall as a writer. He 
wrote a great many articles, in prose and poetry, which ap- 
peared in the newspapers ; some of which attracted considera- 
ble attention. If all that emanated from his prolific pen could 
be gathered together, volumes might be filled ; and among it 
would be found much of sterling value. But it must be said 
that he wrote too much to do full justice to himself — that he 
did not always take sufficient time to investigate and consider 
his subjects. But a great portion of what he wrote was elicited 
by occurrences of temporary interest, and not expected to pos- 
sess an enduring value. He however wrote many pieces that 
were never published, some of which would undoubtedly do 
credit to his memory, should they appear in print. 

The most valuable of his published prose writings were his 
Historical Sketches of Saugus, which appeared in numbers, in 
the Lynn Weekly Reporter, commencing in December, 1858, 
and continuing on through two or three years. They did not 
claim to be a connected history, but were rather a collection 
of facts, traditions, and reminiscences, interspersed with descrip- 
tive passages, reflections, and suggestions. They were exceed- 
ingly interesting; and had he been more exact in his statements, 
instead of so frequently referring this or that event to about 
such a time, would have possessed greater value. But that 
exactness is just what requires the greatest labor at the histo- 
rian's hand ; and he had not the time to spare in such gratuitous 
service. He did more than could have been expected, and has 
furnished a vast number of bints and much useful matter for 
some future historian. 

He commenced a dalliance with the Muses at an early age, 
and became quite a skillful versifier. Under date 1819. at 
which time he was seventeen j'ears old, he says : 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. — BENJAMIN F. NEWHALL. 573 

There was in the neighborliood an old maid called Betty Drown, She was 
a great tattler, or at least had the reputation of being one. And so I wi-ote 
my first verse : 

Betty Brown is of renown, 

Throughout the neighborhood, 

Tells all she knows, where'er she goes, 

But never tells no good. 
It will be obseiTed that I had never studied gi'ammar, to understand it, and 
did not then see that in my first verse I was violating a very important gram- 
matical rule. But no matter ; it was my first effort. 

He wrote on all subjects and had a happy faculty of adapting 
his style to his matter — being grave or gay as occasion required. 
But he had too much natural kindness of heart often to be severe. 
His rhymes were usually good, and at times showed considerable 
ingenuity. In some pieces there ran a pleasant vein of quiet 
humor which now and then broke up in a flash of satire. 

The religious element so conspicuous in his character, has 
been referred to. It produced in the weary and painful hours 
of his last sickness much comfort; making him patient under 
his sufferings, and inspiring a confident expectation of a happy 
issue out of all afflictions. The following pieces bear evidence 
of a devotional, trusting, and thankful spirit, and are, I think, 
fair specimens of his poetry. The one entitled " Lines on My 
Sixtieth Birth-day," I believe he considered his best piece. 
There certainly are some passages in it worthy of being read and 
re-read. But it should be remarked that authors are not usually 
the best judges of their own productions. Circumstances un- 
known or unappreciated by the reader may give them a ficti- 
tious value in the mind of the writer. The other piece — that 
entitled " Answered Prayer," was dictated when prostrate upon 
his bed, a few days before his dfath. It was his last piece. 

LINES ON MY SIXTIETH BIRTH-DAY. 
[April 29, 1862.] 
% How noiselessly the wheels of time have rolled along their way. 

And brought once more — perhaps the last — my cherished natal day, 
Which on tiie dial-plate of time, counts up the three score years. 
Some brightened by a sunny smile, and some bedewed by tears. 

Just three score years have passed away, since I, a baby boy. 

First pressed that dear maternal breast, and gave a mother joy 

And made a father's heart rejoice, with pure paternal love. 

But those warm hearts have ceased to beat — their home is now above. 



574 HISTORY OP LYNN. 

I yet remain ; but oh, how changed ; the child of three score years 
I cannot recognize at all in that which now appears ; 
And were it not for consciousness that I am still the same, 
I should suppose the change complete in all except the name. 

But what are three score years to me? Although the life of man, 
'T is only, in the web of life, the tiny infant's span. 
The lightning's flash, the arrow's flight, the dew upon the spray, 
Today 't is here, tomorrow gone — thus life is passed away. 

The tender ties of early days, which rendered life so sweet. 
The weight of three score years have crushed beneath its giant fee 
Leaving a loving heart in grief bowed down beneath its weight. 
Adopting, as a last recourse, submission to its fate. 

Few ties remain — how dear to me — they now surround my bed 
To wipe away the gathering tear, and soothe my aching head; 
A precious boon — a gift of heaven — a treasure more than gold - 
They smooth each day, life's rugged way, as I am growing old. 

What mixture in the cup of life, which I so long have quafTed, 
How joy and grief, and smiles and tears, have mingled in the drafl 
But 1 have almost drained the cup ; and little now remains, 
Excepting life's infirmities, its suflferings, and its pains. 

Whatever ills may yet betide, howe'er disease and pain 
May rack this mortal tenement, O, may I not complain. 
But humbly rest in God's right hand till life's short race is run, 
And say, with my expiring breath. Thy will, O Lord, be done 



ANSWERED PRAYER. 
For many years my prayer hath been. 

That I might end this mortal race. 
Without severe and torturing pain. 

And, calm and easy, die in peace. 

And now the Lord hath heard my prayer. 
Assuaged my pains so oft severe, 

And given my frail body rest, 
The little time that I am here. 

I '11 give Him praise, while life and sti-ength 
Shall let me speak my gratitude. 

And with my last expiring breath, 

I '11 calmly breathe — the Lord is good. 



CHAPTER IV. 



TABLES 



GOVERNORS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

It is so convenient for the reader of a liistory in any way connected with 
our Commonwealtli, to have a list of the Governors at hand, that one is here 
^iven. Down to the year 1631, those officers were elected by the Company, 
in England. From 1G31 to 1679, inclusive, they were chosen annually by 
the people here. After the dissolution of the first Charter, in 1684, atfairs 
were administered by a President. In 1687, Sir Edmund Andros became 
Governor, under a royal commission. In 1689 he was deposed by the people, 
wIjo then elected Simon Bradstreet, President, and afterward Governor. The 
Governors under the second Charter, commencing with Sir William Phipps, 
in 1692, and ending with Thomas Gage, in 1774, were appointed by the King. 
With Hancock commenced the line of State Governors. 



1631. .John Winthrop. 

1634. Thomas Dudley. 

1635. John Haynes. 

1636. Henrv Vane. 

1637. John "Winthrop. 

1640. Thomas Dudley. 

1641. Richard Belliugham. 

1642. John Winthrop. 

1644. John Endicott. 

1645. Thomas Dudley. 

1646. John Winthrop. 

1649. John Endicott. 

1650. Thomas Dudley. 

1651. John Endicott. 

1654. Richard Bellingham. 

1655. John Endicott. 
1665. Richard Bellingham. 
1673. John Levxrett. 
1679. Simon Bradstreet, 
1687. Edmund Andros. 

1691. Simon Bradstreet. 

1692. William Phipps. 
1694. William Stoughton. 

1699. Earl Bollamont. 

1700. William Stoujrhton. 
1702. Joseph Dudley. 

1715. William Tailer. 

1716. Samuel Shute. 
1722. William Dummer. 
1728. William Burnett. 
1730. Jonathan Belcher. 
1741. William Shirley. 



1749. Spenser Phipps. 

1753. William Shii'ley. 

17.56. Spenser Phip]js. 

1757. Thomas Pownal. 

1760. Francis Bernard. 

1769. Thomas Hutchinson. 

1774. Thomas Gage. 

1780. John Hancock. 

1785. James Bowdoin. 

1787. John Hancock. 

1794. Samuel Adams. 

1797. Increase Sumner. 

1800. Caleb Strong. 

1807. James Sullivan. 

1809. Christopher Gore. 

1810. Elbridge Geny. 
1812. Caleb Strong. 
1816. John Brooks. 
1623. William Eustis. 
1826. Levi Lincoln. 
1834. John Davis. 
1836. Edward Everett. 

1840. Marcus Morton. 

1841. John Davis. 

1843. Marcus Morton. 

1844. George N. Briggs. 
1851. George S. Boutvvell. 

1853. John H. Clifford. 

1854. Emeiy Washburn. 

1855. Henrv J. Gardner. 
1858. Nathaniel P. Banks. 
1861. John A. Andrew. 



(575) 



576 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



SURNAMES 

Of all Residents of Lynn, from the time the Plantation be^an, in 1629, to 
the year 1700. Most names were spelled in different ways ; but in this list it 
was not thought necessary to follow the almost interminable variations. I 
have seen in a single deposition the same name spelled in as many as five 



different ways. 


It is probable that a few of the individuals remained here b 


a short time. 










A. 


Bourne. 


Cole. 


Farnell. 


Gustin. 


Aborne. 


Boutwell. 


Golesworthy. 


Farnsworth. 


H. 


Adams. 


Bowdoin. 


Gollins. 


Farr. 


Habbei-field. 


Allen. 


Brabrook 


Gooper. 


Fari-ar. 


Hacker. 


Alley. 


Brand. 


Gowdry. 


Farrington. 


Hackett. 


Almy. 


Braun. 


Gowper. (?) 


Feake. 


Hale. 


Amey. 


Bredean. 


Gox. 


Felt. 


Hall. 


Anderson. 


Breed. 


Granston. 


Felton. 


Halsall. 


Andrews. 


Brewer. 


Groft. 


Fern. 


Halsye. 


Appleton. 


Briard. 


Gi-oss, 


Ferniside. 


Hammond. 


Archer. 


Bridges. 


Grovvninsheld 


Fish. 


Hand forth. 


A'-mitage. 


Brier. 


D. 


Fisk. 


Harcher. 


Atwill. 


Briggs. 


Dane. 


Fitch. 


Hardman. 


Atwood. 


Brimsdell. 


Daniels. 


Flint. 


Harker. 


Audley. 


Brintnall. 


Darling. 


Flood. 


Harlow. 


Augustine. 


Brisco. 


Davis. 


Floyd. 


Harndale. 


Axey. 


Brooks. 


Dawes. 


Foster. 


Hart. 


Ayers. 


Brown. 


Deacon. 


Fott. 


Haskell. 


B. 


Bryan. 


Dent. 


Fraile. 


Haskins. 


Bachiler. 


Bugell. 


Derick. 


Freeman. 


Hathorne. 


Bailey. 


Burcham. 


Desborough. 


Fuller. 


Haven. 


Baker. 


Burchsted. 


Dexter. 


Fulton. 


Hawkes. 


Ballard. 


Burden. 


Dillingham. 


G. 


Hawkins. 


Bancroft. 


Burge. 


Dinian. 


Gaines. 


Hay. 


Barber. 


Burges. 


Dingley. 


Garder. 


Haynes. 


Bard. 


Burn. 


Dispaw. 


Gaunt. 


Healey. 


Bartoll. 


Burn ell. 


Diven. 


Geere. 


Hedge. 


"^Bartram. 


Burnet. 


Dixey. 


George. 


Hewes. 


Bassett. 


Burrage. 


Dole. 


Gerry. 


Hill. 


Bates. 


Burrill. 


Doolittle. 


Gibson. 


Hilliard. 


Batten. 


Burt. 


Douglas. 


Gifibrd. 


Hinkson. 


Batter. 


Burton. 


Downing. 


Giles. 


Hitchens. 


Beall. 


Butler. 


Driver. 


Gillow. 


Holloway. 


Beans. 


C. 


Drumer. 


Gilloway. 


Holham. 


Belcher. 


Galium. 


Dugall. 


Gingle. 


Holsworth. 


Belknap. 


Ganterbmy. 


Dugglers. 


Goddard. 


Hoi yoke. 


Bennet. 


Garman. 


Dyeijjk 


Godson. 


Hood. 


Berry. 


Gaseley. 


Golt. 


Hort. 


Bessey. 


Gatlin. 


Eaton. 


Goodale. 


Houghton. 


Blackmore. 


Gaulkins, 


Edmunds. 


Googe. 


Howard, 


Blaney. 


Ghadwell. 


Edwards. 


Gool. 


Howe. 


Blighe. 


Gheever. 


Egg. 


Gott. 


Howell. 


Bliss. 


Ghillingworth 


Elderkin. 


Gould. 


Hubbard. 


Blood. 


Ghilson. 


Elkins. 


Go wing. 


Hudson. 


Blott. 


Ghurchman. 


Ellis. 


Graves. 


Humfrey. 


Bly. 


Glark. 


Elwill. 


Gray. 


Hurd. 


Bolishar. 


Glement. 


Errington. 


Green. 


Hussey. 


Bootfish. 


Glifford. 


Estes. 


Greenland. 


Hutcliins. 


Booth. 


Coates. 


Ewington. 


Greenwood. 


Hutchinson. 


Bordman. 


Gobbet. 


P. 


Grifiin. 


I. 


Bound. 


Goldam. 


Fairfield. 


Grunnill. 


Ingalls. 



TABLES. 



577 



Ingerson 
Ireson. 
Tverts. 
Ivory. 

J. 
Jacobs. 
Jefferds. 
Jenks. 
Jenkins. 
Jewett. 
Jocelyn. 
Johnson. 
Jones. 
Joyce. 

K. 
Keayne. 
Kendall. 
Kertland. 
Kej'scr. 
Kintr. 
Kii-by. 
Kirman. 
Kneeland. 
Knight. 
Knott. 

L. 
Laighton. 
Lambert. 
Lane. 
Langley. 
Larrabee. 
Lathrop. 
Lay. 
Leader. 
Lee. 
Legg. 
Leonard. 
Lewis. 
Lightfoot. 
Lilley. 
Lindsay. 
Locke. 
Longley. 
Look. 
Lovell. 
Lye. 
Lyscom. 

M. 
Mackalum. 
Maddock. 



Mansfield.l/ 
Maplesdarme 
Marshall. 
Martin. 
Mavrick. 
Mavfield. 
McDugal. 
McMailen. 
Meriani. 
Merrihue. 
Mills. 
Milner. 
Moody. 
Moore. 
Morgan. 
Morley. 
Mower. 
Munyan. 
'N. 
Narremore. 
Neck. 
Needhara. 
Negus. 
Newhall. 
Newlaud. 
Newman. 
Nicholson. 
Normington. 
Norwood. 
Nye. 

O. 
Oaks. 
Oakman. 
Oliver. 
Otley. 
Otway. 
P. 
Paine. 
Parker. 
Parsons. 
Partridge. 
Patience. 
Paul. 
Payton. 
Pearson. 
Pell. 
Penfield. 
Pentland. 
Perkins. 
Person. 



Phillips. 
Pickering. 
Pickman. 
Pierson. 
Pigden. 
Pinion. 
Pool. 
Pope. 
Potter. 
Pray. 
Prichard. 
Proctor. 
Puffer. 
Purchis. 
Putnam. 
. R. 
Ramsdell. 
Rand. 
Read. 
Redding. 
Rednap. 
Reith. 
Reynolds. 
Rhodes. 
Rich. 
Richards. 
Richardson. 
Riddan. 
Ring. 
Roach. 
Roberts. 
Robinson. 
Rogers. 
Roolton. 
Rooten. 
Roots. 
Rowland. 
Rummary. 

S. 
vSadler. 
Sails. 
Salmon. 
Salter. ^^ 
Sayre. ^^ 
Scott. 
Seccomb. 
Sharpe. 
Sliepard. 
Sherman. 
Shore. 



Silsbe. 


Turner. 


Simon. 


Tuttle. 


Simmons. 


Tyler. 


Siverns. 


U. 


Skiff. 


Usher. 


Skipper. 


V. 


Slawson. 


Veal. {?) 


Smith. 


Vincent. 


South. 


Vinton. 


Spensei*. 


VV. 


Stacey. 


Wade. 


Stanbury. 


Wait 


Standish. 


Wales. 


Stanley. 


Walker. 


Starr. 


Walsall. 


Starke. 


Walton. 


Starkey. 


Wardwell. 


Steanis. 


Warremore. 


Stevens. 


Wathin. 


Stewart. 


Watts. 


Stocker. 


Welby. 


Storke. 


Wellman. 


Stowers . 


Wellmore. 


Stvc])e. 


Wells. 


■ T. 


West. 


Talmadge. 


Wheat. 


Tarbox. 


Wheeler. 


Tarr. 


White. 


Taylor. 


Whiting. 


Teague. {?) 


Wliitridge. 


Thacher. 


Whittemore. 


Thorn. 


Wight. 


Thompson. 


Wiley. 


Tliorne. 


Wilkins. 


Thoyght. 


Williams. 


Tl)rasher. 


Willis. 


Tilton. 


Willman. 


Tingle. 


Wilson. 


Tolman. 


Wilt. 


Tomlins. 


Wing. 


Tooley. 


Winsor. 


Tower. 


Winter. 


Towne. 


Witt. 


Townsend. 


Witter. 


Trask. 


Wood. 


Tree. 


Woodey. 


Trevett. 


Woodman. 


Trumbull. 


Wormwood. 


Tupper. 


Wright. 



ASSISTANTS AND COUNSELLORS. 

3634 to 164L John Humfrey, ? *„:...„!, 
1G4(3 to 1656. Robert Bridges, I assistants. 
Oliver Purchis was elected Assistant, in 1685, but " derlined l>is oath." 

1721. John Burrill, ? Members of the Crown 

1731 to 1740. Ebenezer Burrill, ^ G©vernor's Council. 

W2 37 



578 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



REPRESENTATIVES OF LYNN. 

Down to 1634 the General Court was composed of the whole body of 
freemen, and individuals were sometimes fined or censured for not attending 
to their leirislative duties. In May of the year just named the first House of 
Deputies, or Representatives was formed, as it had be<;un to be felt that the 
attendance of all the freemen was a great inconvenience. The following is a 
list of those sent from Lynn, down to the close of century 1700. The list 
would be quite extensive if continued to the present time, and would hardly 
l)e of sufficient general interest to compensate for the space it would occupy. 



1034. May 14. 



1635. March 4 
May 6. 
Sept. 2. 

1636. March 3, 
May 25. 



10:37. 
1638. 
1639. 



1040. 



1642. 
1643. 

1644. 

1645. 
1640. 

1647. 

1648. 



1649 to 1653 

1654. 

1655. 



Nathaniel Turner, 
Thomas Willis, 
Edward Tomlins. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Timotiiy Tomlins. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Thomas Smith. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Edward Tomlins, 
Thomas Stanley. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
William Wood. 
Nathaniel Turner, 
Daniel Howe. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Daniel Howe. 
Timotky Tomlins, 
Daniel Howe. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Edward Howe. 
Timothj^ Tomlins, 
Edward Howe. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Edward Holyoke. 
Edward Tomlins, 
Edward Holyoke. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Richard Walker. 
Timothy Tomlins, 
Edward Holyoke. 
Edward Holyoke, 
Richard Walker. 
Edward Holyoke, 
Nicholas Brown^[^ 
Edward HolyokaiP 
Edward Holyoke, 
Edward Tomlins. 
Robert Bridges, 
Edward Tomlins. 
Robert Bridges. 
(Speaker.) Robert Bridges, 

Thomas Laighton. 

Edward Holyoke. 

Thomas Laighton, 

Edward Holyoke. 

Thomas Laighton. 

James Axey, 

John Fuller, 

Thomas Laighton. 



Sept. 8. 


April 18. 


March 12 


March 13 


May 22. 


Sept. 4. 


May 13. 



Oct. 7. 



1641. June 2. 



Oct. 7. 



1650 to 

10.59. 

1000 



1058. 



May 30. 
Dec. 19, 



1661. 
1662. 
1003. 

1064. May 18 
Aug. 3. 
1005 to 1007. 
1668. 

1609 to 1073. 
1074 to 1678. 
1679. 

1680 to 1083. 
1084 to 1080. 
1087 and '88. 
1089. 

1090. 
1091. 
1692. 



Thomas Laighton. 
Thomas Marshall. 
Thomas Marshall. 
Thomas Marshall, 
Oliver Pm-chis. 
Thomas Laighton. 
[None.] 

Tliomas Marshall. 
Thomas Marshall. 
John Fuller. 
Oliver Purchis. 
Thomas Marshall. 
Oliver Purchis. 
John Fuller. 
Richard Walker. 
Andrew Mansfield. 
Oliver Purchis. 
[None.] 

Jeremiah Shepard, 
Oliver Purchis. 
[None.] 

John Burrill, jr. 
John Burrill, sen., 
John Burrill, jr. 
" But one to serve at a time." 



1693 to 1696. John Burrill, jr. 
1697. John Buriill, sen. 

1698 to 1701. John Burrill, jr. 

1702. John Person. 

1703. March 1. John Person. 
May 13. Samuel Johnson. 

1704. John Burrill, jr. 

1705. Joseph Newhall. 

1706. John Pool. 

1707. (Speaker.) John Burrill, jr. 

1708. Samuel Johnson. 

1709. (Speaker.) John Burrill, jr. 



1710. 
1711 to 1719. 
J 720 to 1724. 
1725. 

1726 and '27. 
1728 to 1730. 
1731. May 17. 
June 4. 
1732. 

1733 to 1739. 
1740 to 1742. 
1743 to 1745. 



John Person. 
•John Burrill, jr. 
Richard Johnson. 
Ebenezer Burrill. 
Thomas Cheever. 
Ebenezer Burrill. 
Ebenezer Burrill. 
Richard Johnson. 
Richard Johnson. 
William Collins. 
Thomas Cheever. 
William Collins. 



TABLES. 



579 



174G. 

1747 and '48. 
17411 and '50. 
1751. 

175-> to '56. 
1757. 

1758 to '62. 
1763. 
1764 to '73. 

1774. ]Mav 19. 
Oct. 17. 

1775. Feb. 1. 



Ebenezer Biirrill. 

William Collins. 
IJenjainin Ncuiiall. 
[x\onc.] 

B(Mijamin Nowliall. 
William Collins. 
Benjamin Nevvhall. 
Wiliiam Collins. 
Ebenezer Biuiill. 
Ebenezer Bin-rill. 
Ebenezer Bnrrill, 
Jobn Mansfield. 
Jolm Mansfield. 



1775, 

1776 

1778, 
1779, 

1780 
1789. 
1783. 
1784 
1791 
1794 
1796 



May 31. 
July 12. 

and '77. 

May 12. 

Aiiir. 2. 
and '81. 



to 1790. 
to 1793. 
and '95. 
to 1802. 



Nathaniel Bancroft. 
Edward .Johnson. 
Edward .Johnson. 
Ilolton Johnson. 
Holton Johnson. 
Samuel Bunill. 
Samuel Bnrrill. 
Holton Johnson. 
Samuel Burrill. 
John Carnes. 
Ezra Collins. 
John Carnes. 
James Robinson. 



ANCIENT AND HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY. 
For an account of this venerable orjjanization, see under date 1638. A list 
of the members from Lynn follows. It is possible that th^re may be an omis- 
sion or two, as the records of the Company are imperfect. 



16.38. Ballard, William 

1638. Hewes, Joseph 

1638. Howe, Daniel (Lieut.) 

1638. Tomlins, Edward 

1638. Turner, Nathaniel 

1638. Walker, Ricliard 

1639. Bennet, Samuel 

1640. Humfrev, John 

1640. Marshall, Thomas 

1641. Bridges, Robert 
1641. Humfj-ey, John, jr. 

1641. Otlev, Adam 

1642. Wood, John 



1643. Smith, Benjamin 

1645. Coldam, Clement 

1648. Cole, -John 

1652. Hutchinson, Samuel 

1694. Baker, Thomas 

1717. Gray, Benjamin 

1821. Robinson, Robert 

1822. Breed, Daniel N. 
1822. .Johnson, George 
1822. Neal, Ebenezer 
1851. Usher, Roland G. 
1860. Fay, Richard S. jr. 



COLONELS. 

Mansfield, John 
Newhall, Ezra 

CAPTAINS. 

Galucia, Daniel 
Lindsay, Eleazer 
Stocker, Joseph 

LIEUTENANTS. 

Batts, John 
Breed, Fiederic 
Chadwell, Harris 
Johnson, Edward, jr 
Upton, John 

SERGEANTS. 

Hart, John 
Mansfield, Ebenezer 
Roby, Henry 
Stocker, Ebenezer 
Thompson, Edward 

CORPORALS. 

Cheever, Abijah 
Danforth, Joshua 



SOLDIERS OF THE REV 

Drake, Michael 
Hill, William 
Newman, David 
Tufts, David 

PRIVATES. 

Alley, Ephraim 
Alley, Joseph 
Alley, Nathan 
Attwill, Thomas 
Attwill, William 
Attwill, Zachariah 
Bacheller, James 
Bailey, Aaron 
Baker, John 
Barry, Thomas 
Belknap, Abel 
Belknaj), Abraham 
Blanchard, John 
Bowdoin, Benjamin 
Bowdoin, Francis 
Bowen, Edward 
Breed, Aaron 
Breed, Amos 



/ 



OLUTION. 

Breed, Ephraim 
Brown, Benjamin 
Burnam, Joshua 
Bnrrage, John 
Burrill, Alden 
Burrill, Ebenezer 
Chamberlain, Garland 
Cheever, Israel 
Cheever, Thomas 
Cheever, Thomas, jr. 
Coates, Stephen 
Gushing, Nathaniel 
Davis, Jacob 
Dunn, David 
Dimnell, Oliver 
Dunnell, Reuben 
Farrington, John 
Farrington, Joseph 
Farrington, Theophilus 
Farrington, Theophilus, jr. 
Farrington, William 
Felt, Joseph 
Florence, Charles 



580 



HISTOEY OF LYNN. 



Florence, Thomas 
Gill, William 
Hallowell, Edward 
Hallowell, Henry 
Hallowell, Samuel 
Hallowell, Theophilus 
Harris, Peter 
Hart, Ebenezer 
Hill, Robert 
Hitcliings, Nathan 
Hitcliings, Thomas 
Howard, Ezekiel 
Hudson, Benjamin 
Hunt, John 
Ingalls, Daniel 
Ingalls, Jacob 
Ingalls, John 
logalls, Joseph , 
Ireson, Edward 
L'eson, John 
Jacobs, Benjamin 
Jacobs, John 
James, Benjamin 
Jarvis, Enoch 
Johnson, Edward 
Johnson, James 
Johnson, John 
Larrabee, Benjamin 
Lewis, Caleb 
Lewis, Isaac. 
Lindsey, Blaney 
Lindsey, Daniel 
Lindsey, Joseph 
Lindsey, Joseph, jr. 
Lindsey, Ralph 
Lindsey, Ralph, jr. 
Lye, Joseph 



Mansfield, Daniel 
Mansfield, Robert 
Mansfield, Samuel 
Mansfield, Thomas 
Mansfield, William 
Martin, Josiah 
Massey, Benjamin 
Moulton, Ezra 
Mudge, Enoch 
Mudge, Nathan 
Munroe, Timothy 
Newhall, Allen 
Newhall, Asa 
Newhall, Benjamin 
Newhall, Galley 
Newhall, Calvin 
Newhall, Charles 
Newhall, Daniel A. B. 
Newhall, Ebenezer 
Newhall, Jacob 
Newhall, James 
Newhall, James, jr. 
Newhall, Micajah 
Newhall, Nathan 
Newman, Thomas 
Nourse, Aaron 
Nourse, James 
Orgin, Isaac 
Parrott, Daniel 
Parrott, INIarstin 
Peabody, Brinsley 
Peach, Joseph 
Pepoon, Richard 
Porter, Ebenezer 
Pi-octor, John 
Proctor, Joseph, jr. 
I Ramsdell, James 



Ramsdell, James, jr. 
Ramsdell, Kimball 
Ramsdell, Shadrach 
Ramsdell, Silas 
Ramsdell, William 
Rich, James 
Richardson, Ebenezer 
Richardson, Eleazer 
Richardson, Solomon 
Rhodes, John 
Rhodes, Josiah 
Robinson, James 
Roby, Thomas 
Simms, John 
Stocker, Enoch, 
Tarbox, Baxter 
Tarbox, Benjamin 
Tarbox, Nathaniel 
Tarbox, William 
Tuttle, Edward 
Tuttle, Richard 
Tutde, Samuel 
Twist, Ephraim 
Waite, Samuel 
Watts, Daniel 
Watts, William 
Whitman, Jesse 
Williams, Daniel 
Williams, Ebenezer x 
Williams, .Joseph 
Willis, John 
Young, Henry 

KILLED AT LEXINGTON. 

Flint, William 
Hadley, Thomas 
Ramsdell, Abednego 
Townsend, Daniel 



CLERKS OF THE WRITS — TOWN 

Clerks of the Writs. 
1640. Richard Sadler. 
1G43. Edward Tonilins. 
1G45. Edward Burcham. 
1655. William Longley. 
1662. John Fuller. 

Town Clerks. 
1666. Andrew Mansfield. 
1672. Thomas Laighton. 
1686. Oliver Purchis. 
/1691. John Burrill. 
1722, Richard Johnson. 
1749. John Fuller. 

1755. Joseph Fuller. 

1756. Ebenezer Burrill. 
1765. Dr. Nathaniel Henchman. 
,1767. Ebenezer Burrill. 
1775. Benjamin Newhall. 



CLERKS — CITY CLERKS. 

1777. William Collins. 

1784. Benjamin Johnson. 

1785. William Collins. 

1786. Ephraim Breed. 
1804. Henry Hallowell. 
1820. Samuel Hallowell. 
1831. Thomas Bowler. 

1847. Jacob Batchelder. 

1848. Thomas Bowler. 

1849. William Bassett. 

City Clerks. 

1850. William Bassett. 
1853. Charles Merritt. 

1855. John Batcheldei-. 

1856. Charles Merritt. 
1859. Ephraim A. Ingalls. 
1861. Benjamin H. Jones. 



TABLES. 



581 



MEMBERS OF CONVENTIONS. 

[Convention for Ilatifying the Constitu- 
tion of the United States,] 
1788 •^*^''" Bui iiliam, } Lynn and 
Jolin Caiiies, ^ Lynnfield. 

[Convention for Formhig the State 
Constitution,] 

1779. Samuel Burrill. 

[Conventions for Revising the State 
Constitution.] 

1820. 
Bacheller, Jonathan 
Fuller, Josepi) 
Lovejoy, John 
Mudge, Enoch, jr. 
Mudge, Ezra 

Makepeace, Jonathan, (Saugus.) 
Newhall, Asa T. (Lvnufield.) 

1853. 
Alley, John B. 
Breed, Hiram N. 
Holder, Nathaniel 
Hood, George 

Hawkes, Stephen E. (Saugus.) 
Hevves, James (Lynnfield.) 



1850. 
1852. 
1853. 
1854. 
1855. 
1850. 
1858. 
1859. 
1861. 
1862. 



MAYORS. 

George Hood. 
Benjamin F. Mudge. 
Daniel C. Baker. 
Tliotnas P. Richardson. 
Andrews Breed. 
Ezra W. Mudge. 
William F. Johnson. 
EdN^-ard S. Davis. 
Hiram N. Breed. 
Peter M. Neal. 



1705, 
1802, 
1803, 
1807 
1808, 
1829, 
1839 
1841. 
1842, 
1843, 
1849, 
185.3. 
1858. 
1861. 



1812. 

1823- 

1832- 

1834- 

1839. 

1843. 

1844- 

1849- 

18.52. 

18.55- 

1860- 

1862- 



POSTMASTERS. 

, .Tames Robinson. 
, Ezra Hitchihgs. 
, Samuel Mullikeu. 

Elijah Downing. 

Jonathan Bacheller. 
. Jeremiah C. Stickney. 

Thoiuas J. Marsh. 
. Steplien Oliver. 

Thomas B. Newhall. 

Benjamin Mudge. 

Abner Austin. 

Jeremiah C. Stickney, 

Leonard B. Usher. 

George H. Chase. 

*- 

SENATORS. 

Joseph Fuller. 
■1824. Aaron Lummus. 

• 183.3. Josiah Newhall. 
■18.36. Stephen Oliver. 

Isaiah Breed. 

George Hood. 
■184.5. Francis S. Newhall. 
■1850. Daniel C. Baker. 

John B. Allev. 

• 1857. John Batchelder. 
1861. Edwin Walden. 

•1863. William F. Johns#n. 

W2* 



PRESIDENTS OF THE COMMON 
COUNCIL. 

18.50. Daniel C. Baker. 

1851. James R. Newhall. 

1852. Edward S. Davis. 

1854. Giistavus Attwill. 

1855. Gilbert Hawkes. 

1856. Edward S. Davis. 

1858. Edwin Q. Bacheller. 

1859. Natfian Clark. 

1860. Noah Robinson. 

1861. George H. Chase. 
1863. Jesse L. Attwill. 



ACADEMY AND HIGH SCHOOL. 

PRECEPTORS OF LYNN ACADEMY. 

1805. William Ballard. 

1805. Francis Moore. 

1806. Hosea Hildreth. 

1807. Abiel Chandler. 

1807. Abner Loring. 

1808. Samuel Newell. 

1809. Proctor Pierce. 

1811. Joseph Wardwell. 

1812. Solomon S. Whipple. 
1815. John Flagg Gardner. 
1817. Amos Rhodes. 

1819. Benjamin P. Emerson. 

1823. Alonzo Lewis. 

1825. Ripley P. Adams. 

1827. George Delavan. 

1829. Joseph II. Towne. 

1830. Samuel Lamson. 
18.32. Ripley P. Adams. 
18.35. Ephraim Ward. 
1835. Jacob Batchelder. 

PRINCIPALS OF THE HIGH SCHOOl. 

1849. Jacob Batchelder. 

1856. Moses P. Case. 

1857. Henry Lummis. 

1860. John B. Hubbard. 

1861. Jacob Batchelder. 

1862. Ephraim Flint. 



582 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



NEWSPAPERS AND EDITORS. 

Newspapers. 

[In the following list are named the 
principal Newspapers that have ap- 
peared in Lynn, with the dates of their 
commencement. A numher of others 
have from time to time been published 
for short periods or temporary purposes 
which it is not necessary to occupy 
. space in enumerating.] 

1825. Lyim Weekly Mirror. 

1830. Lynn Record. 

1831. Essex Democrat. 

1832. Weekly Messenger. 
1838. Lynn Freeman. 

1842. Essex County Washingtoniau. 

1842. Tlie Locomotive. 

1844. Essex County Wliig. (A con- 
tinuation of tlie Freeman.) 

1844. The Pioneer. (A continuation 
of the Washingtonian.) 

1846. Lynn News. (A continuation 
of the Essex County Whig.) 

1849. The Bay State. 

1854. Lynn Weekly Reporter. 

1855. Josselyn's Lynn Daily. 

Editors. 

[In this list will be found the names 
of the principal editors of Lynn news- 
papers, with the names of the papers 
■with which they were especially con- 
nected. In some cases tiiey were en- 
gaged on different papers at different 
periods. Others, not here named, 
occasionally put on the editorial har- 
ness for temporary purposes or for 
brief intervals.] 

1825. Charles F. Lummus. Mirror. 

1830. Alonzo Lewis. . . . Mirror, 

1831. Benjamin Mudge. Democrat. 

1832. James R.Newhall. Messenger. 

1833. Daniel Hensliaw. . Record. 

1840. Eugene F. W. Gray. Freeman. 

1841. Richard 1. Attwill. Freeman. 

1842. Wm. H. Perley. Locomotive. 
1842. D. H. Barlow. Washingtonian. 
1844. Josiah F. Kimball. . News. 
1844, Henry Clapp, jr. . Pioneer. 

1848. George Bradburn, , Pioneer. 

1849. Lewis Josselyn, . Bay State. 
1854. Peter L. Cox. . . Reporter. 



MEMBER OF CONGRESS, 

1858— John B, Alley. 



POLICE COURT. 

Justices. 
1849. Thomas B. Newhall, (Standing.) 
1849. Benjamin F. Mudge, (Special.) 
1849. James R. Newhall, " 

Clerks. 
1849. Thomas R. Newhall. 
1862. Henry C. Oliver. 



RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES, 

First Congregational. 
[Trinitarian. Founded in 1632.] 

1632. Stephen Bachiler. 

1636. Samuel Whiting. 

1637. Thomas Cobbet. (Colleague.) 
1680. Jeremiah Shepard. 

1680. Joseph Whiting. (Colleague.) 

1720. Nathaniel Henchman. 

1763. John Treadwell. 

1784, Obadiah Parsons, 

1794, Thomas Gushing Thacher. 

181.3. Isaac Hurd. 

1818. Otis Rockwood. 

1832, David Peabody, 
1836, Parsons Cooke. 

Second Congregational. 

[Unitarian. Founded hi 1822.] 

1824. James Diman Greene. 

1829. David H. Barlow. 

1833. Samuel D. Bobbins. 
1840. William Gray Swett. 
1843. John Pier])oiit, jr. 
1846. Charles C. Shackford. 

Central Congregational. 

[Trinitarian. Founded in 1850.] 

1850, Abijah R. Baker. 
1855. Jotham B. Sewall. 

Chesnut Street Congregational. 

[Trinitarian.] 

This Society was commenced in 
1857, as a Congregational Methodist, 
under the pastorate of Rev. D. L. Gear. 
But in 1859 it became Calviuistic Con- 
gregational. 

1857. D. L. Gear. (Methodist.) 

1859. Jesse Page. 

1860. John Moore. 

1862. Abijah R. Baker. 

1863. Henry M. Painter. 



TABLES. 



583 



First IMethodist. [1791.] 

Tills was the first Metliodist Society 
in Massacimsetts. All the Methodist 
Societies in the city are Episcopal. 

1791. John Bloodgood, Daniel Smith. 

1792. IMenzes Ravnor. 

1793. Jordan Rexford. 

1794. Evan Roarers. 

1795. George Pickering. 

1796. James Covel. 

1797. John Broadhead. 

1798. Ralph Willistou. 

1799. Andrew Nickels. 

1800. Joshua Wells. 

1801. Geo. PickerinjT, T. F. Sargent. 

1802. Thos. Lyell, John Bloodgood. 

1803. Peter Javnc. 
1805. Daniel ^Vebb 

1807. Nehemiah Coye. 

1808. Dan Young. 

1809. William Stevens. 

1811. Asa Kent, Greenlief R. Non-is. 

1812. Joshua Sonle, Daniel Webb. 

1813. Daniel Webb, Elijah Hedding. 

1814. Elijah Hedding, Leonard Frost. 

1815. Geo. Pickering, Solomon Sias. 

1816. Geo. Pickering, B. F. Lambord. 

1817. W. Marsh, O. Hinds. 

1818. E. Hedding, Jas. B. Andrews. 

1819. Elijah Hedding, Enoch Mudge. 

1820. Enoch Mudge. 

1821. Phineas Peck. 
1823. Daniel Fillmore. 
1825. John F. Adams. 
1827. Daniel Fillmore. 

1829. Abraham D. Merrill. 

1830. A. D. Merrill, R. Spaulding. 

1831. B. Otheman, Selah Stocking. 

1832. Bartholomew Otheman. 

1833. David Kilburn. 

1834. Jotham Horton. 
1836. Thomas C. Pierce. 
1838. Charles K. True. 

1840. Charles Adams. 

1841. Jefferson Hascall, Lester Janes, 

1842. James Porter. 
1844. Lorauus Crowell. 
1846. John W. Merrill. 
1848. Lorenzo R. Thayer. 
1850. J. Augustus Adams. 
1852. Henry V. Degen. ■ 
1854. William Butler. 
1856. Charles N. Smith. 
1858. William R. Clark. 
1860. George M. Steele. 
1862. Willard F. Mallalieu. 
1864. John H. Twombly. 



[1811.] 



Union Street Methodist. 

1812. Daniel Webb. 

1814. Leonard Frost. 

1815. Solomon Sias. 

1817. Orlando Hinds. 

1818. James Ambler. 

1819. Elijah lleddhig. 

1820. Timothy Merritt. 
1822. Shipley W. Wilson. 

1824. ElijahSpear. 

1825. Epaphras Kibbv. 
1828. Joseph A. Merrill. 

1830. Ephraim Wilev. 

1831. Shipley W. Wilson. 

1832. John Lovejoy. 
1834. Isaac Bonney. 

1836. Daniel Fillmore. 

1837. John Parker. 

1838. Aaron D. Sargent. 
1840. William Smith. 
1842. Jacob Sanborn. 

1844. Samuel A. Gushing. 

1845. Phineas Crandall. 

1846. Joseph Dennison. 

1848. Abraham D. Merrill. 

1849. Stephen Gushing. 
1851. Chester Field. 
1854. Nathan D. George. 

1856. D. L. Gear. 

1857. John H. Mansfield. 
1859. William A. Braman. 
1861. Hem-y W. Warren. 

1863. William C. High. 

1864. A. McKeown. 



South Street Methodist. [1830.1 

1830. Rufus Spaulding. 

1831. Selah Stocking. 

1832. Isaac Bonney. 

1834. Sanford Benton. 

1835. Amos Binney. 

1836. Timothy Merritt. 

1838. Frederic P. Tracy. 

1839. Mark Stai)les. 
1841. Edmund M. Beebe. 
1843. John B. Husted. 
1845. Charles S. Macreadiug. 
1847. John Clarke. 

1849. William Rice. 

1850. Simon Putnam. 

1851. George Dunbar. 
1853. Daniel Steele. 
1855. Isaac Smith. 
1857. Fales H. Newhall. 
1859. Jeremiah L. Hanaford. 
1861. Daniel Richards. 
1863. Samuel Kelley. 



584 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



Maple Strf.et Mkthodist. [1850.] 

1851. Mark Staples. 

185-2. Daniel Ri.-hards. 

1854. Altraliaiii 1). Merrill. 

18.5(). Howard C. Duuliam. 

1858. Oliver S. Howe. 

18.5!>. .Taivis A. Ames. 

]S()l. Ai)raliam M. Osgood. 

18G3. Joliii S. Day. 



Boston Street Methodist. [1853.] 

1853. Loramis Crowell. 

1854. Isaac S. Ciislimaii. 
185(5. Edward A. Maimiiifr. 
1858. Henry E. Hempstead. 
1800. Aaron D. Sariri-nt. 
18()'2. Convers L. MeCindy. 
18G3. Anstin F. Herrick. 



First Baptist. 
[Founded in 1816.] 

1816. George Pliippen. 

1820. Ebenezer Nelson, jr. 

1830. Daniel Chessman. 

1833. L. Stillman BoUes. 

1837. Joel S. Baron. 

1840. Hiram A. Graves. 

1843. Thomas Driver. 

1849. William C. Riciiards. 



High Street Baptist. 

[Founded in 1853.] 

1853. .T. H. Tilton. 
1858. Alfred Owen. 

Third Baptist. 
[Founded in 1858.] 
1861. Charles H. Cole. 

First Universalist. 

[Founded in 1833.] 

1835. .Tosiah C. Waldo. 

1839. Lemuel Willis, 

1843. Horace G. Smith. 

1845. Merritt Sanlbrd. 

1848. Darwin Mott. 

1850. Elbridge G. Brooks. 

1860. Sumner Ellis. 

1862. Charles W. Biddle. 



Second Universalist. 
[Founded in 1836.] 

1836. Dunbar. B. Harris. 

1839. Edward N. Harris. 

1840. Henrv .lewell. 
1843. .Tohn'Nifhols. 
1845. O. H. TiUotson. 
1848. John Moore. 
1850. J. K. Johnson. 

18.59. E. Winchester Reynolds. 

1858. Henry Jewell. 

18.59. William P. Payne. 

1863. N.R.Wright. 

St. Stephen's. 

[Protestant Episcopal.] 

This corporation, in 1844, succeeded 
the corporation of Christ Church, which 
was established in 1836, and had erect- 
ed a house of worship on North Com- 
mon street, but discontinued worship 
in 1841. Both successions of ministers 
are given. Mr. Ward was the first 
minister of Christ Church, and Mr. 
Wildes the first of St. Stephen's. 

1836. Milton Ward. 

George Waters. 

Frederic J. W. Pollard. 

Wm. A. White. (Lay Reader.) 

George D. Wildes. 

Isaac W. Hal lain. 

Edward H. True. 



1837. 
1839. 
1841. 
1844. 
1846. 
1860. 
1863. 



George H. Paine. 



St. Andrew's. 
[Protestant Episcopal.] 
This is maintained by summer resi- 
dents. The Chapel, built in 1860, 



is open during the 



only, and there have been no settle-, 
ministers. 

Christian. 
[Founded in 1835.] 
18.35. Philemon R. Russell. 

1841. Josiah Knight. 

1842. David Knowlton. 

1842. Elilui Noyes. 

1843. Warren Lincoln. 
1851. Nicliolas S. Chadwick. 

1853. Seth Hinckley. 

1854. William Miller. 
I860. John Burden. 
1862. Joseph Whitney. 
1862. John A. Goss. 



TABLES. 



585 



St. Mart's. 

[Roman Catholic] 

Catholic services were held in Lynn, 
at a private house, as early as 1835. 
Subsequently, the Town Hall was oc- 
cupied as a place of worsiiip. In 1855, 
the wooden buildiuir on Ash street, 
which liad been occupied as a Metho- 
dist and likewise as a Baptist house 
of worsiiip, and later still as a gram- 
mar school-house, havinj? been remod- 
eled and enlarired was consecrated to 
Catholic worsiiip. In 1859 it was l)in-n- 
ed. Soon afterward, the beautiful brick 
Gothic church near the eastern end of 
South Common street, and whicii is 
still the finest ])nblic building in Lynn, 
was erected, and made ready for occu- 
pation in 18(52. 

1849. Charles Smith. 
1851. Patrick Strain. 



Friends' Meeting. 

[Founded in 1077.] 

See pages 441 and 442 for some ac- 
count of a division in this Society.] 

Free Church. 

[Unitarian. Founded iu 1851.] 

1851. .John T. Sargent. 
1853. Samuel Johnson. 



POPULATION OF LYNN. 

1765. (First recorded census.) 2.198 

1790 2.291 

1800 2.837 

1810 4.087 

1820 4.515 

1830 6.138 

1840 9.367 

1850 14.257 

1860 19.083 



LYNN BANKS, 

with the dates of their incorporation and the names of their first Presidents. 



1814. 
1826. 
1832. 
1849. 
1854. 
1855. 



Lynn 3Iechanics Bank, 
Lynn Institution for Savings, 
Nahant Bank, , . . 
L-iigliton Bank, 

City Bank 

Five Cents Savings Bank, 



Joseph Fuller. 

Amariah Childs. 

Hezekiah Chase. 

Francis S. Newhall. 

. John C. Abbott. 

George Hood. 



— ♦- 



DISTANCES AND MEASUREMENTS. 
From Central Square : M. r. 

To Boston — head of State street, over the Turnpike, 10 160 

Danvers, 5 80 

Salem, 5 96 



Marblehead, .... 

Lyinifield Hotel. 

Nahant, (Whitney's,) 

Saugus, (East Village,) 

Saugus, (Centre Village,) 

Lynn Hotel, 

Swampscot, (Beach,) 

Ocean House, (Swampscot,) 

Phillij)s's Point, (Swampscot,) 

Lynn Beach, 
From Lynn Hotel to Dye House, 
From Lynn Hotel to Floating Bridge, 
From Village Square, (Woodend,) to west end of Common 
The same, by Broad and Market streets. 
From Washington Square, north end of Nahant street, to Lynn Hotel, 
Length of Common — from north end of Market street to Lynn Hotel, 

Length of Lynn Beach, entire, 

Length of Streets, 



, by Essex st. 



5 200 
4 280 
4 

2 220 

3 260 
1 77 

1 256 

2 271 

3 58 
226 

1 280 
1 287 

1 146 

2 26 
1 120 

230 
2 
42 17 



586 



TABLES. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN LYNN. 

Number of Public Schools, 48 

Teachers — (male, 6 ; female, 53) — 59 
Pupils, .... 4.339 

Average a^e of pupils, 10 years, 15 days. 
Teachers' salaries, . $21,996.39 
Total expenditure for Public 

Schools, iji 1863, . $31,429.86 



VALUATION AND TAXATION. 

Valuation. 

1850 ^^"^ Est., 3.160.515, ) ^AanAOAr, 
^^^^ Personal, 1.674.328, \ ^4.834.843 

Real, 5.403.8.52, > aoMCM 

Personal, 2.880.797, I «-284.649 

Real, 6.291.460, 
Personal, 3.357.605, 

Real, 6..528.762, 
Persona], 3.680.098, , 
[The last includes $743,919, now 
taxed directly by tiie State.] 



1855 



1860 



1864 



9.649.065 



10.208.860 



Rate of Taxation. 

1850. On every $1000, $9.00 

1855. " " " 7.50 

1860. " " " 8.80 

1864. " " " 15.60 

CiTT Tax. 

1850 $50,000 

1855 57.000 

I860 80.000 

1864 112.000 

CITY APPROPRIATIONS. 

1864. 
For Repairs of Highways, $6,000 

Laying out and altering 

Streets, ... 500 
Lighting Streets, . . 500 
Curb Stones, . . . 500 
Printing and Stationary, 1.000 
Salaries of City Officers, 7.000 
Constables and Police, 5.000 

Board of Healtli, . . 100 
Improvement of Common, 100 
Payment of Interest, 18.000 

Payment of City Debt, 8.000 

Free Public Library, 1.500 

Pine Grove Cemeterv, 1.200 

Public Scliool Department, 27.000 
(and recei|)ts of d(!partment.) 
Poor Department, . 18.000 
(and receipts of department.) 
Fire Deparment, . . 3.500 
(and receipts of department.) 



CITY DEBT — CITY PROPERTY. 

Debt. 

1850 $56,960 55 

1855 86.550 00 

1860 107.600 00 

1864 281.800 00 

[But it should be stated in regard to 
the latter that such a ])ortion was re- 
imbursable by the state, being for aid 
to soldiers, as would in reality reduce 
the debt to about. . . $195,000.] 

Value of Real Estate owned 

by the City, . . $156,490 00 
Personal Estate, . 28.806 71 

Total, $185,296 71 



SHOE BUSINESS. 

1864. 

It is difficult to give, in a short space, 
a perfect idea of the great shoe trade 
of Lynn. The shoes now made are 
of much better quality and consequent- 
ly higher price than tliose made a few 
years since. We include under the 
general term slioes, such boots as are 
made here ; and by tiie State returns 
find that during tiie year ending June 
1, 185.5, there" were made 9.275.593 
pairs, valued at $4,165,529. During 
the year ending Sept. 1, 1864, it is 
protfcble that thougli there had been 
a large increase in the business, there 
were not much, if any, above 10.000.000 
pairs made. But the aggregate whole- 
sale value of these reached the large 

sum of $14,000,000.00. 

Number of Shoe Manufacturers, 174 
Males and females employed, 17.173 



STATISTICAL ITEMS. 

1864. 

Number of Voters in Lynn. 

Streets, Courts, and Squares, 

Licensed Dogs, . 

Fire Engines, 

Church Edifices, 

Cliurch Bells, 

Pulilic Clocks, 

Public Houses, . 

Grocery Stores, . 

Dry Goods Stores, . . 

Printing Offices, 

Lawyers, .... 

Pliysiciaus, 



4.500 

2.59 

279 

8 

21 

5 

3 

4 

69 

18 

6 

11 

18 



TABLES — LYNNFIELD. 



587 



LYNNFIELD 

This towr>ship was grranted to Lynn in 1G39, and was called Lynn End. 
1782 it was incorporated as a district, and in 1814 made a separate town. 



In 



REPRESENTATIVES. 
1826 and '27. Josiah Nowhall. 
1828. Asa T. Newhall. 

1829 — 1832. John Upton, jr. 

1832. Bowman Viles. 

1833. John Ujnon, jr. 
1834 and '35. Joshua Hewes. 

1836. Jolm Perkins, jr. 

1837. William Perkins, 
1838 — 1841. David N. Swasey. 
1841. James Jackson. 

1843. Joshua Hewes. 

1844. Enoch Russell. 
1848. Josiah Newhall. 
1850 and '51. William Skinner, jr. 
1852 and '.53. John Danlbrth, jr. 
1856 and '57. David A. Titcomb. 

[The House of Representatives had 
become so unwieldy that in 1857 the 
Legislature made provisions for dis- 
tricting the State. Representatives are 
therefore now chosen by districts.] 



1814. 
<1818. 
1823. 
1832. 
1833. 
1834. 
1837. 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1857. 



TOWN CLERKS. 

John Upton, jr. 
Andrew Mansfield. 
Bowman Viles. 
Jolm Upton, jr. 
Bowman Viles. 
Andrew Mansfield, jr. 
Joshua Hewes. 
Andrew Mansfield, jr. 
Joshua Hewes. 
Andrew Mansfield, jr. 
.John Perkins, jr. 
John Danforth, jr. 



POSTIMASTERS. 

[South Village.] 

Office established 25 May, 1836. 

1836. Theron Palmer. 

1839. Charles S|)inney. 

1852. James W. Church. 

1855. Henry W. Swasey. 

[Centre Village.] 
Office established 1 August, 1848. 
1848. George F. Whittredge. 
1851. Samuel N. Nevvcomb. 

1856. Jonathan Bryant. 



RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

First Congregational. 

This society adhered to the old Pu- 
ritanical faith ilown tin"ough Mr. Searl's 
pastorate. Afterward there was a Uni- 
tarian supply. And in 1849, it became 
recognized as a Universalist society, 
3Ir. Walcott being the first minister of 
the Universalist persuasion. This So- 
ciety was formed as the second of 
Lynn, August 17, 1720, and the place 
of worship is in the Centre Village. 

1720. Nathaniel Sparhawk. 

1731. Ste})hen Chase. 

1755. Benjamin Adams. 

1783. Joseph Mottey. 

1824. Joseph Searl. 

1854. Luther Walcott. 

Orthodox Evangelical Society. 
This is a Trinitarian Congregational 
Society — formed 27 September, 1832, 
and located in the Centre Village. 
1833. Josiah Hill. 
1837. Henry S. Greene. 
1850. Uzal W. Condit. 
1856. Edwin R. Hodgman. 
1859. William C. Wliitcomb. 



South Village Congregational. 

[Trinitarian. Formed iu 1849.] 

1849. Ariel P. Chute. 
1858. Allen Gannett. 

Methodist. 
A society of this order was formed 
here in 1816, and a house of worship 
erected, in the Centre Village, in 1823. 
But regular meetings have not been 
held for several years. 

1819. Orlando Hinds. 

1820. Isaac Jennison. 

1821. Ephraim Wiley. 
182.3. Leonard Frost. 
1824. Henry Mayo. 

1825 to 1830. Warren Emerson. 
1830. Mark Staples. 
1832. Hezekiah Thacher. 
1834. John Bayley. 



588 



TABLES — SAUGUS. 



S AUGUS. 

This town formed the West Parish of Lynn, till 1815", when it was incorpo 
rated under its present name, which was the ancient name of Lynn. 



REPRESENTATIVES. 

1815. Robert Ernes. 

1816 and '17. Joseph Cheever. 

1820. Joseph Cheever. 

1821. Abijah Cheever. 
1823. Jonatlian Makepeace. 
1826. John Shaw. 

1827 and '28. Wilham Jackson. 

1829 — 1831. Abijal) Cheever. 

1831. Joseph Clieever. 

1832 and '33. Zaccheus N. Stocker. 

1834. Jose[)h Cheever. 

1836 and '37. William W. Boardman. 

1838. Charles Sweetser. 

1839. Francis Dizer. 

1840. Benjamin HitchinffSjjr. 

1841. Stephen E. Hawkes. 
1842 and '43. Benjan)in F. Newhall. 
1844. Pickmore Jackson. 
1846 and '47. Sewail Boardman. 

1850. Charles Sweeter. 

1851. George H. Sweetser. 

1852. John B. Hitchings. 

1853. Samuel Hawkes. 

1854. Richard Mansfield. 

1855. William H. Newhall. 

1856. Jacob B. Calley. 

1857. Jonathan Newhall. 

[In 1857 the State was districted and 
Representatives have siuce been cho- 
sen by districts.] 



1815. 
1819. 
1828. 
1831. 
1834. 
1841. 
1848. 
1852. 



TOWN CLERKS. 

Richard Mansfield. 
Thomas Mansfield, jr. 
Zaccheus N. Stocker. 
Isaac Childs. 
William W. Boardman. 
Benjamin F. Newhall. 
Harmon Hall. 
William H. Newhall. 



1&32. 
1832. 

1856. 

1858. 



POSTMASTERS. 

[East Village.] 

Henry Slade. 
George Newhall. 
Herbert B. Newhall. 

[Centre Village.] 
Julian D. Lawrence. 



[Cliftondale.] 

1858. William Williams. 
1860. George H. Sweetser. 



RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

First Church. 

This church was gathered in 1732, 
as the third church of Lynn, and a 
house of worship was erected in 1736. 
It remained Calvinistic till the settle- 
ment of Mr. Randall, in 1826, he being 
a Unitarian. The Universalist element 
was strong in the society, and after 
Mr. Randall left, thc'Calvinistic branch 
withdrew, leaving tlie Universalists in 
possession of the house. This society 
is located in the Centre Village, and is 
the one to which the celebrated Parson 
Roby so long ministered. 

1739. Edward Cheever. 
Joseph Roby. 
William Frotliingham. 
Joseph Emerson. 
Hervey Wilbur. 
Ephraim Randall. 
D. B. Harris. 
John Nichols. 
Josiah Marvin. 
Josiah Talbot. 
J. H. Campbell. 
B. W. Atwell. 
J. H. Campbell. 



1752. 

1804. 
1821. 
1824. 
1826. 
1835. 
1837. 
1850. 
1854. 
1857. 
1860. 
1862. 



Trinitarian Congregational. 
This society was formed by those 
who withdrew, leaving the Universal- 
ists in j>ossession of the first church. 

1833. Sidney Holman. 

1843. Theophilus SawLn. 

1847. Cyrus Stone. 

1851. Levi Brigham. 

Methodist. (East Village.) 

Methodism was introduced into Sau- 
gus in or about the year 1810, by Tho- 
mas Bowler, Enoch Mudge, William 
Walton, and a few other laymen of 
Lynn. And the classes formed at that 
period were connected with the society 
at Lynn. In 1823, the Saugus mem- 



TABLES — SWAMPSCOT — NAHANT. 



589 



bers withdrew from tlie Lj'iin connec- 
tion, and formed a separate society in 
their own town. In 1827 they built 
their first meeting-hoii.se, the celebrated 
John N. Maffit j)roaching the dedica- 
tion sermon. Their present house of 
worship was dedicated Feb. 22, 1855, 
Bishop .lanes jn-eaching the sermon. 

1823. Warren Emerson. 

1824. Henry Mayo. 

1825. Laroy Sunderland. 

1826. Aaron Josselin. 

1828. Nathan Paine. 

1829. Ephraim K. Avery. 

1830. Joim J. Bliss. 

1831. Hiram H. White. 

1832. Ebenezer Blake. 

1833. Joel Steele. 

1834. Ezekiel W. Stickney. 

1835. Lewis Bates. 

1836. Newel S. Spaulding. 

1837. Sanford Benton. 



1839. Daniel K. Bannister. 

1841. Jonathan D. Bridge. 

1843. William Rice. 

1845. Isaac A. Savage. 

1847. Edward Cook. 

1849. William M. Mann. 

18.50. Daniel K. Bannister. 

18.52. J. Augustus Adams. 

1853. Ralph W. Allen. 

1855. William H. [latch. 

1857. Daniel Richards. 

1859. Jonas M. Clark. 

18G1. Cyrus L. Eastman. 

1863. Daniel Richards. 



Methodist. (Cliftondale.) 

1854. James Blodgett. 

1857. George F. Pool. 

1859. Solomon Chapin. 

1861. John S. Day. 

1863. Daniel Wait. 



SWAMPSCOT. 



Swampscot was separated from 
TOWN CLERKS. 



1852. 

18.56. 
1857. 
1858. 
1862. 
1863. 
1864. 



1846. 

1861. 



John L. Seger. 
Francis E. Andrews. 
William D. Brackett. 
John L. Seger. 
Samuel O. Ingalls. 
Daniel P. Stimpson. 
John Seger. 



POSTMASTERS. 

Waldo Thompson. 
Daniel P. Stimpson. 



Lynn and incorporated as a town in 1852. 

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

Congregational. 

[Trinitarian. Founded in 1846.] 
1846. Jonas B. Clark. 

Methodist. [1854.] 

1854. Edward S. Best. 

1855. Charles Noble. 

1856. John Smith. 
1858. Zachariah A. Mudge. 
1860. Linus Fish. 
1862. Georsre Sutherland. 
1864. 3Ioseley Dwight. 



N 

Nahant was separated from 
TOWN CLERKS. 



1853. 
1857. 



Washington H. Johnson. 
Alfred D. Johnson. 



POSTMASTERS. 

The Nahant Post-office was estab- 
lished in July, 1847. 

1847. Phineas Drew. 

1847. Welcome W. Johnson. 

X2 



AH ANT. 

Lynn and incorporated as a town in 1853. 

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

Independent Methodist. [1851.] 

1855. WilliaTTi R. Clark. 

1856. George G. Jones. 

1858. Allen Gannet. 

1859. Charles N. Smith. 

1860. Stephen Gushing. 

In 1832 a Tuscan Chapel was erect- 
ed here chiefly by the subscriptions of 
summer residents. Services are held 
in it during tlie warm season only. 



CHAPTER V. 



CONCLUSION. 

In closing our Record of Events in the history of Lynn, a 
congratulatory word or two may, not improperly, be indulged in. 
Twenty years have been added to the annals of Mr, Lewis, and 
perhaps no score of years in our whole history have been marked 
by greater changes. We have adopted the city form of govern- 
ment; and not only that, but after a sort have in appearance 
likewise matured from village to city. Our population has 
rapidly increased — improvements, useful, durable, and orna- 
mental, have been made on every hand — larger and more costly 
buildings have been erected — hissing steam and rumbling ma- 
chinery have been introduced in the manufacture of shoes, our 
staple article — our taxable property has greatly increased ; and 
so, for that matter, have our taxes — the Common has been 
enclosed, studded with trees, and traversed by gravel walks — 
brick side-walks have been laid and numerous ornamental trees 
planted along their borders — the road over the Beach has been 
constructed — the Police Court has been established — Pine 
Grove Cemeterv has been laid out — the horse rail-road has 
been built — gas has been introduced for the lighting of 
our streets, stores, and dwellings — telegraphic communication 
with the most distant quarters has been established — the schools 
have much improved, and greatly increased in number — reli- 
gious societies have sprung up till every true worshiper if not 
every whim-driven soul, may find a congenial shrine — and two 
of the thrifty children^ Nahant and Swampscot have been invest- 
ed with the blessings and responsibilities of municipal freedom. 

About twenty years ago, quite an improvement in the archi- 
tectural aspect of Lynn began to manifest itself. Before that 
time the common, unembellished dwelling of one, one and a 
half, or two stories in height, prevailed. Buildings of more than 

(590) 




LYCEUM KALL. 
Erected in 1841 . Market Street, corner of Siuniiier. 




Iiiiiiii» 






mmm^m 



SAGAMORE HOTEL. 
Erected in 1854. Union Street, corner ofxMulberry. 



CONCLUSION. 



591 



two stories, or of any material but wood were almost unknown. 
They were usually very plain, with pitch roofs, painted white, 
and often furnished with green blinds. They had an air of 
neatness and comfort, though indicating limited means. But 
those of a very different character have, *within these few 
years, appeared in every quarter. Among the illustrations 
of this volume may be found representations of some of our 
later structures. And we are gratified in being able to intro- 
duce a very perfect picture of the old Town House, subse- 
quently dignified by the name of City Hall. It is not, 
however, presented for its architectural elegance, but for the 
interest that attaches to it as being the only building ever 
yet reared in Lynn, specially for municipal purposes. It was 
burned at about daylight on the morning of October 6, 1864, 
as stated on page 478. In 1863, however, a site for a new- 
City Hall was purchased, near the eastern end of the Common, 
at the corner of Essex street; and indeed Lynn would long 
ago have had an edifice better becoming her dignity could talk 
have built it. The picture was taken a few weeks before the 
fire, being actually photographed upon the block. A portion of 
the walls escaped, and there is no knowing to what base uses 
they may yet arrive. 




OLD TOWN HOUSE, AFTERWARD CITY HALL, LYNN. 

The Town House was built in 1814, and stood on the centre 
of the Common, nearly opposite the head of Hanover street. 
It originally had a hipped roof, and was square in form. The 
interior remained unfinished for many years. Elections were 



592 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

of course held in it ; and military companies sometimes exercised 
there ; and it was used for assemblages of various kinds. In 
1832 it was removed to the spot on which it was burned — a 
few rods west of Church street, on South Common — and the 
hall finished. Foj* a long time this was the largest and almost 
the only hall in town, and was occupied for all sorts of meetings, 
lectures, and exhibitions. On the formation of the City Gov- 
ernment, in 1850, the building was thoroughly repaired and the 
interior remodeled. And from that time till its destruction its 
walls continued to resound with the eloquence of the City Fa- 
thers as erst they did with that of the patriotic old Town Orators. 
But the glory of Lynn does not lie in the stateliness of her 
edifices or the elegance of her thoroughfares. She has not yet 
attained to any thing very great in respect to these — though 
if all the finer buildings were concentrated in one quarter they 
would present quite an imposing array — and would rather 
point to the thrift and good condition of her people ; to their 
industry and temperance ; to her ample provision for moral 
and intellectual culture ; to her generous guardianship of the 
few dependent ones within her borders ; and especially to the 
charms which nature has so lavishly bestowed upon her — 
charms which continue to attract, during every watering season, 
so many strangers of wealth and refinement. 



It now remains, in closing, to express most ^-ateful acknowledgments for 
the ready help that we have in numherless instances received. To name 
every one to whom we are indebted would be impossible. But acknow- 
ledgments are especially due to Joseph Moulton, who is one of the most 
intelligent and reliable antiquarians among us. He has a small but choice 
library, containing a number of the best historical and genealogical works, 
and is always ready to lend his valuable aid to those engaged in research 
among the things of the past. He resides in the old Mansfield house, so 
called, which stands on the north side of Boston street, opposite the eastern 
end of Marion, which house is supposed to have weathered the storms of 
about two hundred years, having been built, according to well-sustained tradi- 
tioix, during the year of the great fire in London — 1666. And it is a note- 
worthy fact that it has remained in the occupancy of the direct descendants 
of Andrew Mansfield, the individual who erected it, and who was Town Clerk 
in 1666, ever since its construction, Mr. Moulton, on the maternal side, being 
in the direct line. It has, of course, undergone repairs and alterations neces- 
sary to meet the exigencies of changing time, but remains essentially the 
same. Acknowledgments are also due to Benjamin Mudge, to William B. 
Oliver, to Waldo Thompson, to John Danforth, Jr., of Lynufield, to 
Elijah P. Robinson, of Saugus, and to John Q. Hammond and Dr. Piper, 
of Nahant. Nor should the expression of obligations to Richard S. Fat and 
E. Redington Mudge, be omitted. 



INDEX. 



[Every Surname in the book appears in this Index, arranged alphabetically 
with the subjects.] 



A. 

Ab^lino, ship, captured, 467. 

Abbott, 439, 542, 543, 585. 

Abigail, (Indian,) 40, 51. 

Aborne, 183, 576. 

Abousett (Saugns) liver, 31, 57. 

Academy, Lynn, 367, 370, 379, 581. 

Accident at school-liouse, 416. 

Accident from burning fluid, 447. 

Accidents, fatal. See Deaths. 

Adam, (slave,) 344. 

Adams, 323, 330, 342, 360, 361, 367, 

575, 576, 581, 583, 587, 589. 
Address to President Adams, 360. 
Africanus, (slave,) .344. 
Agassiz, 25, 85, 382. 

Aged persons, 36, 118, 119, 121, 126, 

162, 239, 266, 357, 391, 396, 434, 

451, 463. 
Agricultural exhibitions, 416, 417, 421. 
Agriculture, 44, 132, 140, 169. 
Ahawayet, (Indian,) 39, 40. 
Alarm-houses, 203. 

Alarms, 49, 138, 20.3, 331, 338, 341, 377. 
Aldeman, 242. 
Alewives, 80, 141, 143, 144, 219, 267, 

433. See Fisli. 
Allen, 111, 185, 190, 191, 239, 256, 

258, 299, 300, 318, 394, 576, 589. 
Alley, 183 184, 185, 263, 305, 327. 342, 

397, 403, 414, 415, 454, 465, 472, 502, 

576, 579, 581, 582. 
Allotment of lands, 171, 306. 
Alms-house, 381, 423. 
Almv, 169, 576. 

Ambler, 583. 
Ames, 456, 584. 
Amey, 576. 

Amherst, N. II., settled in 1733 by peo- 
ple from Lvnn, 324. 
Amory, 62, 3d9. 
Anderson, 207, 576. 
Andrew, 466, 575. 

Andrews, 122, 147, 465, 576, 583, 589. 
Andros, 50, 51, 55, 284 to 290, 312, 575. 



Anecdotes: 

Apples and cider, 257. 

Biter bit, 179. 

Conjugal difficulty, 37. 

Courting, 163, 186, 280. 

Cow in grave-yard, 370. 

Dark day, 344. 

Early travel, 93. 

Editorial wit, 517. 

First lawyer's experience, 370. 

Girl lost in the woods, 141. 

Guessing time, 346. 

Holding things in common, 197. 

Humors of a sick man, 518. 

Indian cunning, 264. 

Indian's visit to England, 137. 

Instinct of voung cows, 421 . 

John's Peril, 61. 

Lawyer and client, 435. 

Man and Bear, 135. 

Man and boat blown to pieces, 140. 

Minister's choice, 139. 

Ministers, 237, 238. 

Mutton vs. turkey, 527. 

Panic stricken soldier, 342. 

Piety of Mr. Whiting, 269. 

Practical joker, .347, 

Prayer, efficacy of, 238. 

Proving a new vessel, 321. 

Quaker log-rolling, 521. 

Quarrel of Dexter and Endicott, 137. 

Removing boulder, 74. 

Revohitionary soldiers, 341 

Rhyming, 3;i3. 

Ride to Boston for a dinner, 516. 

Saint Cuthbert, 87. 

Singular cure of fever, 70. 

Taking a glass together, 149. 

Tenacity of purpose, 418. 

Treatment of company, 515. 

True Moody's savings bank, 444. 

Warning off a new comer, 297, 

Wit, encounter of, 330. 

Wit of Moll Pitcher. 375. 

Woman and wolf, 136. 



X2* 



(593) 



38 



594 



INDEX. 



Animals, wild, found in Lynn, 45. 

Annavvon (Lulian,) 264. 

Ann is, 417. 

Anti-nriasonry, 394, 401. 

Anti-slavery lecture, disturbance at, 401 

Anti-slavery society formed, 398. 

Appleton, 225, 262, 266, 280, 576. 

Api)ropriation, city, 1864, items, 586. 

Arago, .396. 

Arciidale, 266. 

Archer, 576. 

Arches, auroral. See Northern Lights. 

Ardway, 211. 

Armitaj^e, 114, 156, 157, 172, 174, 188, 

190, 209, 210, 211, 221, 224, 233, 241, 

276, 576. 
Artillery, Ancient and Hon., 177, 579. 
Artillery, Lynn, 370, 414. See Military, i 
Asbury, 362. 

Assistants and Counsellors, 577. 
Astronomical observatory, 469. 
Atherton, 209. 
Atkins, 122. 
Atkinson, 465. 

Atlantic cable celebration, 453. 
Atmospheric refraction, curious effects 

of, 82,278. See Celestial Phenomena. 
Atwill, 297, 439, 576, 579, 581, 582, 588. 
Atwood, 576. 
Audley, 576. 
Augustine, 576. 

Aurora borealis. See Noi-thern Lights. 
Austin, 62, 421, 473, 485, 581. 

Autographs : 

Breed, Alien, 115. 

Burrill, George, 115. 

Cicily, alias Su-George (Indian,) 55. 

Dexter, Thomas, 205. 

Kunkshamooshaw, Abigail, 55. 

Kunkshamooshavv, David, 55. 

Laighton, Thomas, 1.55. 

Newhall, Thomas, first white person 
born in Lynn, 126, 483. 

Pitcher, Moll, the fortune-teller, 376. 

Poniiam, Mary, (Quonopohit,) 55. 

Whiting, Rev. Samuel, 270. 
Autumn foliage, 82. 
Avery, 589. 

Axey, 115, 172, 240, 576, 578. 
Ayers, 576. 

B. 

Babson, 356. 

Bachiler, Bacheller, Batchelder, 100, 
102, 125, 139, 140, 142, 159 to 164, 
179, 428, 471, 482, 576, 579 to 582. 

Backus, 101. 

Bacon, 268, 584. 



Bagnall, 141. 

Bailey, Baylev, 120, 190, 228, 255, 292, 
332, 430, 465, 486, 576. 579, 587. 

Baker, 116, (117 and 118 contain the 
romantic history of Christine, the 
Indian captive,) 156, 172, 190, 263, 
299, 405, 424, 426, 433, 436, 479, 
(566 contains a biogra])hical notice 
of Daniel C, the third mayor of 
Lynn,) 576, 579, 582. 

Ball, calico, 455. 

Ballads, old New England, 107, 133. 

Ballard, 115, 143, 171, 208, 211, 282, 
291, 293, 365, 367, 430, 576, 579, 581. 

Balloon ascensions, 401, 403, 411. 

Bancroft, 118, 171, 184, 275, 351, 470, 
576, 579. 

Banks, (surname,) 453, 575. 

Banks, (money institutions,) 377, 390, 
398, 423, 4.39, 445, 585. 

Bannister, 589. 

Baptism, first in Lynn, 139. 

Baptists, 127, 131, "187, 204, 208, 219, 
230, 257, 378, 379, 432, 460, 584. 

Barber, 226, 576. 

Barberry bushes, 79, 329. 

Barcroft, 118. 

Bard, 576. 

Bardson, 26. 

Barker, 410, 465. 

Barlow, 394, 400, 582. 

Barnstable settled by Lynn people, 182. 

Barrett, 432. 

Barry, 433, 464, 579. See Berry. 

Bartlett, 46.5. 

Bartoll, 576. 

Bartram, 576. 

Bass, 141, 144. 

Bassett, 51 to 53, 127, 184, (185 con- 
tains the genealogy of the jjrincipal 
Bassett family now in Lynn,) 200, 
266, 275, 282, 291, 292, 294, 295, 305, 
335, 344, 345, 424, 426, 433, 485, 570, 
576, 580. 

Batchelder. See Bachiler. 

Bates, 333, 432, 465, 576, 589. 

Bathing, 81. 

Batten, 576. 

Batter, 172, 200, 236, 261, 576. 

Battle ofBunker Hill, 341. 

Battle of Chesapeake and Shaunon,373. 

Battle of Lexington, 338. 

Batts, 579. 

Baudouin, 91. 

Baxter, 465. 

Bayley. See Bailey. 

Beach protectors, 388, 404, 429. 

Beach road, 421, 429. 



INDEX. 



595 



Beaches, 6G, 07, 78, 144, 388, 404, 421, 
429, 433. See Storms. Tides. 

Beacons on Dread Ledjre, 395, 397, 477. 

Beal, 22G, 275, 276, 57G. 

Beans, 576. 

Bear Pond, 70. 

Beard, (siuiiame) 89, 90. 

Beurd, (of the human face,) 133, 438. 

Bears, 135, 332. 

Beauchamp, 205, 362. 

Becke, 205. 

Becx, 205, 235. 

Beebe, 583. 

Belcher, 32:3, 575, 576. 

Belknap, 150, 172, 576, 579. 

Bellainont, 575. 

Bellamy, 3J1. 

Bellingham, 152,181,575. 

Bells, chnrch, 380, 463, 586. 

Bennet,95,119, 143, 172, 212, 216, 224, 
234, 259, 576, 579. 

Benton, 583, 589. 

Bernard, 575. 

Berries, varieties of, found in Lynn, 79. 

Berry, 185, 226, 235, 416, 465, 473, 576. 
See Barry. 

Besse, 465, 576. 

Best, 589. 

Biarne, 26. 

Bible not read at Sunday services, 105. 

Biddle, 472, 584. 

Bilboes — Stocks, 142. 

Billington, 207. 

Binney, 583. 

Biographical Sketches an«d Per- 
sonal Notices : 

Adams, Rev. Benj. Lynnfield, 342. 
Bachiler, Rev. Stephen, 139, 159. 
Baker, Cliristine, Indian captive, 117. 
Baker, Daniel C, third mayor, 566. 
Barkw, Dr. Charles O., 410^ 
Breed, Ebenezer, (Uncle Eben.) 519. 
Breed, Isaiah, 541. 
Brimblecom, Col. Samuel, 424. 
Brown, Goold, 449. 
Burrill, Hon. Ebenezer, 492. 
Burrill, Hon. John, 489. 
Carnes, Rev. Joiin, 363. 
Chase, Rev. Stephen, Lynnfield, 330. 
Cheever, Rev. Edward, Saugus, 328. 
Childs, Amariah,415. 
Cobbet, Rev. Thomas, 236. 
Coffin, Dr. Edward L., 533. 
Collins, Jlicajah, 500. 
Cooke, Rev. Dr. Parsons, 475. 
Curtin, Enoch, 528. 
Dagyr, John Adam, 328. 



Biographical Sketches and Per- 
sonal Notices — (Continued.) 

Dexter, Thomas, 204. 

Downing, Elijah, 519. 

Felton, Cornelius C, 86 

Flagir, Dr. John, 358. 

Flora, (slave,) 391. 

Fuller, Maria Augusta, .505. 

Gardner, Dr. James, 397. 

Gates, Isaac, lawyer, 435. 

Grav, Geoi-ge, the Lynn hermit, 419. 

Gray, William, 496. 

Hazeltiiie, Dr. Ricliard, 403. 

Henchman, Rev. Nathaniel, 332. 

Hei^tz, Caroline Lee, 275. 

Holyoke, Edward, 121. 

Hood, George, first mayor, 542. 

Humfrev, John, 147, 197. 

Hurd, Rev. Isaac, 379. 

Hutchinson, Jesse, 437. 

Hutchinson, Jndson J., 455. 

Jenks, Jose[)h, iron-worker, 208. 

Leonard, James and Henry, 206. 

Lewis, Alonzo, 544. 

Lummus, Dr. Aaron, 396. 

Luunnus, Charles F., first printer, 511 

Merrill, Benjamin, first lawyer, 370. 

Montowampate, Indian Sagamore of 
Lynn, 36, 146. 

Moody, Lady Deborah, 187. 

Moody, True, 444. 

Mottey, Rev. Joseph, Lynnfield, 387. 

Moulton, Solomon, 502. 

kludge. Rev. Enoch, 536. 

Mudge, Ezra, 538. 

Mulliken, Samuel, 417. 

Nahanton, (Indian,) 41. 

Nanapashemet, Indian Sachem, 34. 

Newhall, Asa T., Lynnfield, 537. 

Newhall, Benjamin F., Saugus, 567. 

Newhall, Francis S., 539. 

Newhall, Isaac, 540. 

Newhall, Jacob, landlord, 494. 

Newhall, Josiah, 533. 

Newhall, Thomas, the first person of 
European parentage born here — 

' with genealogy of the Newhall 
family; 482. 

Parsons, Rev. Obadiah, 356. 

Perkins, Dr. John, Lynnfield, 345. 

Pierson, Rev. Abraham, 195. 

Pitcher, Moll, the fortune-teller, 374, 

Pompey, (slave,) 344. 

Poquanum, Sachem of Nahant, 40, 
141, 146. 

Purchis, Thomas, 266. 

Quanopkonat, (Indian,) 42. 

Robinson, Col. James, 397 



596 



HISTORY OF LYNK. 



Biographical Sketches am) Per- 
sonal Notices — (Continued.) 

Roby, Rev. Joseph, Saugus, 363. 

Sadler, Ricliard, 157.* 

Shepard, Rev. Jeremiah, 314. 

Sparhawl<,Rev.Natli'l,Lynnfield,323. 

Swett, Rev. William Grav, 410. 

Thacher, Rev. Thomas C., 373. - 

Tread well, Rev. John, 34(3. 

Trevett, Robert W., lawyer, 409. 

Tudor, Frederic, 474. 

Turner, Capt. Nathaniel, 128. 

Washburn, Reuben P., lawyer, 372. 

Wenepoykin, (Indian,) 38. 

Whiting, Rev. Samuel, 267. * 

Yawata, (Indian,) 40. 

[See also Early Settlers.] 
Bh-ds, 45, 57, 80, 144, 298, 299, 433, 473. 
Bishop, 256. 
Bistow, 229. 
Bitner, 111. 
Black, 465, 589. 
Blackmore, 576. 
Blackstone, 41, 56, 108, 109. 
Black Will, (Indian,) 40, 131, 141, 144, 

241 242. 
Black'wiirs Cliff, 67. 
Blake, 542. 
Blanchard, 448, 579. 
Blaney, 226, 267, 329, 359, 373, 395, 

448, 470, 576. 
Blighe, 26, 256, 292, 576. 
Bliss, 576, 589. 
Blodgett, 589. 
Blood, 576. 
Bloodgood, 583. 
Bloomer, 430. 
Bloomer costume, 430. 
Blott, 214, 576. 
Bly, 226, 576. 
Board of Trade, 450. 
Boardman, and Bordman, 576, 588. 
Boiling Springs, 70, 71. 
Bolishar, 576. 
Bolles, 584. 
Bonaparte, 500. 
Bond, 181, 205, 478. 
Bonney, 583. 
Bonytlion, 180. 
Bootfish, 576. 
Booth, 576. 
Boradile, 314. 
Boston Massacre, 335. 
Botany of Lynn, 78, 455. 
Boulders, granite, 73. 
Bound, 576. 
Boundaries, 57, 183, 234, 252, 257, 441, 

452. 



Bounties. See Soldiers' Bounties. 

Bourne, 576. 

Boutwell, 150, 172, 575, 576. 

Bovvden, 579. 

Bowdoin, 576, 579. 

Bowdwell, 197. 

Bowler, 337, 580. 

Boynton, 336, 462, 465. 

Bra brook, 576. 

Brackett, 332, 589. 

Bradburn, 582. 

Bradburv, 62, 211. 

Braddock, 396. 

Bradstreet, 115, 204, 210, 211, 255, 257, 
277, 296, 575. 

Brainard, 174. 

Braman, 583. 

Brand, 576. 

Brattle, 296, 

Braun or Brawn, 265, 456, 576. 

Brazil, 447. 

Bredean, 576. 

Breed, 61, 91, 115, 171, 185, 194, 235, 
252, 282, 292, 293, 297, 299, 305, 311, 
312, 340, 342, 354, 362, 363, 364, 365, 
370, 386, 403, 411, 429, 443, 462, 465, 
472, 473, 479, 485. (519 to 526 con- 
tain a biographical notice of Ebene- 
zer Breed — "Uncle Eben." And 
541 and 542 contain a biographical 
notice of Isaiah Breed.) 544, 576, 
579, 580, 581. 

Breed's End, origin of name, 115. 

Brereton, 31. 

Brewer, ViO, 226, 292, 538, 576. 

Briant and Bryant, 332, 587. 

Briard, 576. 

Brick side-walks, 440. 

Bridge, (surname,) 589. 

Bridge, natural, 60 

Bridges, (surname,) 88, 120, 150, 172, 
185, 204, 205. 212, 216, 217, 219. 221 
to 224, 230, 231, 240, 576 to 579. 

Bridges, (over water-courses,) 58, 60, 
70; 96, 141, 182, 219, 223, 236, 321, 
334. , 

Brier, 576. ' 

Briggs, 575, 576. 

Brigbam, 588. 

Brimblecom, 91, 424. 

Brimsdell, 576. 

Brintnall, 576. 

Brisco, 576. 

Broadhead, 583. 

Brock, 373. 

Brook, (surname,) 171, 172. 

Brooks, (surname,) 172, 175, 378, 428, 
575, 576, 584. 



INDEX. 



597 



Brooks, (water-courses,) 144, 145, 201, 
3G-2. 

Brown, 52, 53, 95, 109, 119, 17], J8l, 
200, 214, 228, 309, 310, 417, 448, 449, 
453, 458, 465, 482, 573, 576, 578, 579. 

Brummcll, 516. 

Bryan, 576. 

Bryant. See Briant. 

Biiclianan, 453. 

Buckingham, 513. 

Bnckley, 239, 448, 452. 

Buffiim, 426. 

Buircll, 576. 

Buifincli, 418. 

Bulkley, 300. 

Bull, ferocious, 221. 

Biill-fiirlit in 1808, in Lynn, 369 

Bunistead, 321. 

Biindock. 154, 155. 

Bunker Hill battle, 341. 

Burciiain, 1.50, 151, 172, 214, 576, 580. 

Burchsted, 26, 311, -330, 342, 345, 375, 
576. 

Burden, 131,576,584. 

Bulge, 233, 576. 

Burges, 576. 

Burial places. See Burying Grounds. 

Burn, 576. 

Burnam and Burnham, 579, 581. 

Burnell, 576. 

Burnett, 117, 575, 576. 

Burning fluid, accident by, 447. 

Burrage, 226, 298. 576, 579. 

Burrill, 10,51. (115 and 492 contain 
genealogies of the BtUTill family.) 
116, 171, 173, 201, 202, 2-i7, 263, 266, 
280, 282, 287, 2r0, 291, 293, 293, 297, 
319, 325, 333, -334, 338, 345, 354, 3.58, 
379, 463, 465, 479, 485. (489 to 494 
contain biographical notices of Hon. 
John Burrill, and Hon. Ebenczer, 
his brother.) 494, 540. 576, 577, 578, 
579, 580, 581. 
Burroughs, 294, 301, 30-3. 
Burt, 151, 172, 175. 184, 191, 212, 576. 
Burton, 171, 239, 576. 
Burviuir Grounds, 44, 170, 2a3, 299, 320, 
372, 389, 390. See Cemeteries. 

•utler, 446, 576, 583. 

iutton, 49. 

{vneld, 104. 

5yles, 344. 

iyron, 554. 



Cabot, 28, 383. 
Calamy, 158. 
Caldwell, 421, 465. 



Calef, 296. 

Calico ball, 455. 

Calico printing, 403. 

California emigration, 423. 

Calley, 588. 

Callum, .576. 

Calvin, 442. 

Camden, 170. 

Cameron, 359. 

Campbell, 465, 588, 

Canker worms, 252, 309, 326, 336, 394, 
473. 

Canonicus, (Indian,) 33. 

Canterbury, 576. 

Capitein, 22. 

Carlisle, 448. 

Carman, 169, 576. 

Carnes, 351, 352, 363, 373, 374, 579L 
581. 

Carpenter, 465. 

Carter, 403. 

Case, 581. 

Caseley, 576. 

Cass, 427. 

Castine, 289. 

Castle Rock, 60. 75. 

Casualties. See Deaths. 

Caswell, 465. 

Catamount killed in Lvnn woods, 335. 

Caterpillars, 220, 256, 281 , 309, 328, 47a 

Catholic Church, 456, 464, 585. 

Catholic Neutrals, 330. 

Catlin, 423, 576. 

Cattle, 112, 131, 136, 144, 147, 179, 232, 

28(), 298, 311, 325, 328. 
Cattle Shows. See Agricultural Exhi- 
bitions. 
Cauldron Cliff, 60. 
Cauikins, 211, 576. 

Cave, Dungeon. See Du.ngeon Rock. 
Cave, Swallows', 59, 75. 
Cave, Wolf's, 66. 
Cavern, Roaring, 60. 
Cedar Pond, 70. 

Celebrations. See Independence. 
Celestial and atmospheric phenomena, 
82, 257, 278, 313, 323, 327, .335, 336, 
a38, 389, 390, 391, 396, 397, 400, 402, 
415, 426, 434, 440, 449, 457, 461, 462. 
Cemetery, Pine Grove, Lynn, conse- 
crated, 425. First burial in, 426. 
Conveyed to the city, 438. Soldiers' 
lot in, 472. 
Cemetery, Catholic, consecrated, 454. 
Cemetery, Lyimfield, consecrated, 448. 
Cemetery, Swampscot, consecrated,439 
Chadwell, 119, lti9, 171, 227, 228, 340, 
526, 538, 576, 579. 



598 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



Chad wick, 584. 

Chamberlain, 579. 

Chandler, 4C5, 581. 

Changes of weather, extraordinai*y, 82, 

417,438,443,464. 
Channinor, 553. 
Chapin, 589. 
Chapman, 154. 
Charters, colonial, 280, .575. 
Chase, 323, 327, 330, 333, 370, 402, 416, 

465, 485, 500, 56G, 581, 585, 587. 
Clieever, 86, 320, 325, 328, 344, 345, 

429, 471, 576, 578, 579, 588. 
Chesapeake and Shannon, battle of, 373. 
Chesnnts, 252. 
Chessman, 584. 
Chester, 417. 
Chicataubut, (Indian,) 33. 
Chickerin<r, 310. 
Child, 158, 211. 

Childs,321,360, 415, 416, 568, 585, 588. 
Chillinirworth, 576. 
Chilson, 208, 576. 
Chipman, 499. 
Choate, 420. 

Chocolate manufacture, 360, 415. 
Cholera, Asiatic, 423. 
Christmas, observance of, forbidden by 

law, 103, 251. 
Christmas-day, warm, 358. 
Churcli, (surname,) 184, 305, 587. 
Churcii, formation of first in Lvnn, 139. 
Church difficulties, 140, 148, 164, 354, 

387. 
Church edifices. See Meetinjr Houses. 
Church. Protestant Episcopal, 100 to 

110,381,402,404,460. 
Churches. See Religions Societies. 
Churchill, melancholy death of Miss 

Saraii, 429. 
Churchman, 190, 191, 576. 
Chute. 448, 587. 

CicilvSu-George,(Indian,)39, 41,51, 54. 
Cilley, 465. 
City form of government adopted, 424. 

Clerks, list of, 580. 

Debt at different periods, 586. 

Property in 1864, value of, 586. 

Tax and rate of taxation at differ- 
ent periods, 586. 

Appropriation, 1864, items, 586. 

Hall, 478, 591. 

, Valuation of estates in, at differ- 
ent periods, 586. 
City Guards, 433, 465. 
Clam-bake, political, at Swampscot.414. 
Clams, 136. 144,297.309. 
Clapp, 4.56, 582. 



Clark, 131, 185, 230, 231, 305, 431, 434, 
469, 576, 581, 583, 589. 

Clarrage, 46.5. 

Clay, 427, 434, 461. 

Clement, 465, 576. 
j Clergymen. See Ministers. 

Clerks, Town and City, lists of, 580. 

Town, of Lynnfield, 587. 

Town, of Nahant, 589. 

Town, of Saugns, 588. 

Town, of Swampscot, 589. 

of the Writs, 10, 214, 292, 580. 

Cleveland, 346, 351. 

Cleves, 160. 

Clifibid, 299, 300, 575, 576. 

Climate, 80, 82. 

Clocks, public, 586. 

Clough, 135. 

Coal, anthracite, early use of, 400. 

Coates, 226, 241, 261,285, 417, 576, 579. 

Cobb, 403. 

! Cobbet, 48, 49. 159, 169, 172, 209, 212, 
i 215, 224, 229, 235 to 242, 256, 257, 
' 260, .576, 582. 

Cod-fish, 80. Great fares of, 448. 

Codman, 395. ^ 

Coe, 465. 

Coffee, introduction of, 313. 

Coffin, 356, 396, 453, 479, 533, 534. 

Coggshall, 377. 

Coining. See Money. 

Cold, 204, 222, 298, 325, 344, 356, 380, 
38<^ 390, 397, 404, 407, 411, 442, 445, 
473. 

Coldam, 119,' 143, 172, 173,175,292, 
576, 579. 

Cole, 190, 295, 576, .579, 584. 

Colesworthv, 151, 576. 

Collins, 11, 151, 154, 171, 185,215,219, 
240, 252, 253, 282, 291, 293, 298, 301, 
305, 312, 324, 325, 326, 328, 331, ,336, 
344, 345, 467, 479. (5G0 to 502 con- 
tain a biograpliical notice of Micajah 
Collins, the Quaker [)reacher.) 520, 
521, 525, 536, 576, 578, 579, 580. 

Colored race, 22, 277. See Slaves. 
Slavery. 

Columbus, 28, 271. 

Colyer, 443. 

Come-outers, 408. 

Comets, 234, 255, 276, 372, 390, 402, 
411, 437, 451. (454, the comet of 
1858, with illustration.) 460. (468, 
the comet of 1861, vvitii illustration.) 

Committee of Safetv, Revolutionary, 

340. 
Common Council, Presidents of, 581. 
Common, Lynn, 30G, 310, 422. 



INDEX. 



599 



Communion y)Iate of First Church, 354. 

Conanr, 5(J, 141, 1^^7. 

Concrete or gravel houses, 440. 

Condit, 587. 

Conflict between church and civil au- 

tiiorities, 253. 
Congress boot, 417. 
Conner, 430, 431, 465. 
Consumption, 81, 428. 
Continental money, 343. 
Conventions, Constitutional, members 

of, 581. 
Cooke, 402. 407, 408, 420, 448, 475 to 

477, 582, 589. 
Coolicige, 405. 
Cooper, 151, 171, 172, 194, 195, 216, 

576. 
Copley, 205. 
Copp,"37], 425. 
Corev, 294. 
Corn, 132, 169. 

Corwin or Curwin, 200, 228, 289. 
Costume. See Dress. 
Cotton, (surname,) 169, 234. 
Counsellors and Assistants, names of, 

577. 
Courts, 12, 134, 146, 164, 16.5, 169, 250, 

2.53, 256, 322, 335, 4^23, 582. 
Courtship, 37, 163, 186, 222. 225, 280. 
Cove, Dorotliy's, 291. 
Covel, .583. 

Covenant. Ilnlf-way, 166. 
Covenant of First Church of Lynn, 165. 
Cowdrv, 113, 171,214, 576. 
Cowper, 214. 216, 576. 
Cox, 43!), 576, 582. 
Cove, 583. 
Crafts, 173, 256. 
Crandall, 131, 230, 231, 583. 
Cranston, .576. 
Crimes. See Punishments. 
Croft, 173, 576. 
Cromwell, 156,229,234. 
Cross, 172, 576. 
Crow, 358. 
Ciowell, 583, 584. 

Crowninsclieldt, 71, 72, 299, 300, ,576 
Ciyon, 465. , 

Currel, .366. 

Currency. See Money. 
Curtin, 3^42, 479, 514. ' (.528 to .532 con- 
tain a notice of Enocli Curtin.) 
Curtis, 320, 415, 465. I 

Curwin or Corwin, 200, 228, 289. 
Cushing, 300, 579, 583, 589. I 

Cushman, 121, 364, 584. j 

Customs. See Manners and Customs. 
Cutler, 534. I 



D. 

Baffin, 290, 297. 

Daguerreotype picture, first taken in 

Lynn, 409. 
DagVr, 90, 328. 
Dalion, 160, 164, 466. 
Dancing, 232, 260, 359, 416. 
Dane, 576. 
Danforth, 111. 178,274,275,296,434, 

579, 587, 592. 
Daniels, 190, 576. 
Darkdays, 310, .343. 
Darling,' 208, 299, 576. 
Dashing Rock, 61. 
D'Auley, 217. 

Davenport, 98, 129, 176, 466. 
David, (Indian,) 39, 41, 51, 54. 
Davis, 122, 151, 152, 172, 173, 181, 192, 
200, 276, 282, 384, 430, 433, 436, 453, 
466, 472, 575, 576, 579, 581. 
Davison, 233. 
Dawes, 224, 576. 
Dav, 584, 589. 
Deacon, 253, 172, 258, .576. 
Deaths, accidental and singular. 111, 
124, 15.3, 203, 262, 277, 321, 323, .324, 
326, 329, 331, 332, 334, 335, 336, 347, 
351, 357, 358, 362, 364, 366, 367, 371, 
377, 380, 381, 388, 391, 394, 395, 403, 
405, 406, 414, 415, 418, 421, 423, 426, 
429, 430, 432, 434, 4.36, 437, 438, 439, 
443, 445, 446, 447, 449, 450, 451, 4.52, 
453, 454, 456, 457, 460, 467, 469, 472, 
474, 478. 
Debt, City, at different periods, 586. 
Deed, Indian, of Lynn, 49, 282. 
Deer, 311, 325, 337. 
Degen, 583. 
Delavan, 581. 
Denier, 461. 
Dennison, 261, 583. 
Dent, 57(5. 
Derby, 497, 499. 
Derick, 294, 295, 576. 
Desborough, 576. 
Devereaux, 342. 
DeWitt, 190. 

Dexter, 40, 9.5, 119, 125, 131, 1-37, 138, 
140, 142, 169, 172, 196, 204, 205, 213, 
219, 221. 224, 240, 241, 242, 267, 318, 
319,346,576. 
Dickerson, 298. 
Dillingham, 120, 169, 576. 
Dinian, 576. 
Dimond, 374. 
Dinah, (slave,) 344. 
Dinan, 188, 192. 
Dingley, 576. 



600 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



DisaBter at Lynnfield Pond, 426. 

Disasters of the Sea. See Shipwrecks 

Discoveries and Voyages, early, 25. 

Diseases. See Sickness. 

Disf)aw, 576. 

Diven, 135, 576. 

Division of lands, 171,252, 306. 

Dixev, 112, 113,242,576. 

Dixon, 389. 

Dizer, 588. 

Doctors. See Physicians. 

Dogs, nninber of, licensed in 1864, 586. i 

Dolan, 445. 

Dole, 576. | 

Domestic animals. See Cattle. Sheep. 

Donellv, 466. 

Doolittle, 123, 123, 576. 

Dorothy's Cove, 291. 

Donel,"31. 

Double Tides, remarkable, 150, 410. 

Dougherty, 466 

Douglas, 576. 

Dow, 471. 

Downer, 465. 

Downins, 137, 179, 207, 210, 223, 224, 

259, 317, 424, 479. (519 contains a 

notice of Elijah Downing.) 576, 581. 
Drake, 264, 579. 
Draper, 451, 456. 

Dread Ledge Beacons, 395, 397, 477. 
Dress, 87, 90, 182, 231, 233, 348, 430. 
Drew, 539, 589. 
Driver, 1 19, 172, 191, 263, 282, 291, 576, 

584. 
Drouchts, 182, 212, 277, 282, 298, 306, 

328, 347, 351, 362, 416, 439, 445, 447, 

460, 477. 
Drownings. See Deaths. 
Drumer, 576. 
Drunkenness, 135, 140, 204,211,212, 

217. 
Dudle'y, 36, 42, 45, 109, 114, 117, 203, 

215, 305, 465, 575. 
Diigall, 576. 
Dugglers, 576. 
Dummer, 191, 575. 
Dunbar, 583. 
Dungeon Rock, 243 to 250, 401, 430, 

445, 471. 
Dunham, 584. 
Dunn, 579. 
Dunnell, 579 
Dunton, 156 
Durant, 401. 
Dwellings, construction and fashion of, 

114, 132,440,590. 
Dwight, 589. 
Dyer, 362, 576. ' 



E. 

Eagles, 432, 442. 446. 

Early Settlers of Lynn, notices of. 111, 

114, 150, 173, 183, 225. List of Sur- 
names of, 576. 
Earthquakes, 117, 182, 209, 243, 252, 

321, 323, 324, 326, 330, 331, 333, 345. 

361, 367, 371, 377, 380, 396, 403, 416. 

436, 462. 
Easterly winds, 425. See Winds. 
Eastman, 4()0, 589. 
Eaton, 229, 241,576. 
Eclipses, 255, 260, 367, 456. 
Editors of Lynn newspapers, 582. 
Edmunds, 120, 172, 282, 285, 576. 
Education, 283. See Schools. 
Edward, (Indian,) 203. 
Edwards, 466, 576. 
Egg, 576. 

Egff Rock, 61, 75, 448, 462. 
Egg Rock Light, 448, 450. 
Eider, 465. 

Elderkin, 143, 172, 174, 175, 576. 
Eldred, 444. 

Electric Telegraph, 418, 444, 454. 
Elephant, first exhibited in Lynn, 362 
Eliot, 40, 181, 242, 260, 427. 
Elkins, 299, 576. 
Ellis, 223, 460, 576, 584. 
Elwell, 184, .576. 
Embargo, 368, 371. 
Embedded Trees, 77, 40 
Emerson, 86, 330, 403, 581, 587, 588. 

589. 
Emerton, 465, 570. 
Emery, 477. 
Emes', 588. 
Endicott, 31, 32, 49, 95, 112, 137, 138, 

149, 191, 205, 210, 211, 229, 575. 
Engines. See Fire Engines. 
Enlistments, 465, 467. 
Entertainment of dignitaries, 210. 
Episcopal Church. See Church. 

Epitaphs: 

Burchsted, Dr. John Henry, 226. 
Burrill, Hon. John, 491. 
Clifford, John, 299. 
Cobbet, Rev. Thomas, 236. 
Henchman, Rev. Nathaniel, .333, 
Shepard, Rev. Jeremiah, 318. 
Stocker, Mrs. Harriet N., 426. 
Townsend, Daniel, 339. 
Whiting, Rev. Samuel, 272. 

Eric, 26. 

Errington, .576. 

Essex, (slave,) 344. 

Estes, 185, 305, 439, 466, 485, 576. 



INDEX. 



601 



Ether, sinjrular death by, 443. 
Eiistis, 5/0. 
Evelyn, 2G0. 
Everett, 575. 
Ewinj^ton, 576. 
Exehange Builrlinjr, 41 
Execution of llugli Peters, 149. 
Explosion of steam cylinder, 470. 

P. 

Factory, Oak street, (Breed's,) 411. 

Fairfield. 15-3, TJO, IDl, 192, 200, 576. 

Fairne, 342. See Fern. 

Fairs, L;ulies', 404, 422, 469. 

Fales, 356, 4(i.5. 

Fall ofa honse, 440. 

Farley, 443. 

Farmer, 158. 

Farm Jionse, old, at Swampscot, 202. 

Farming, 44, 140, 169. 

Farm |iioduce, prices of, at different 
periods. See Prices. 

Farnel, 263, 576. 

FarnswortI), 57(). 

Farr, 120, 172, 242. 280. 576. 

Farrar, 185, 186. 292, 293, 294, 295. 
298, 306, 484, 485, 576. 

Farrinirton, 51, 15.3, 171, 186, 190, 193, 
194,235,263,282,292, 293, 342, 355, 
36.5, 486, 492, 576, 579. 

Fashions. See Dress. 

Fasts, 164, 169, 255, 256, 260, 281, 309. 
322. 423, 464, 469. 

Fay, 71,579, .592. 

Feake, 120, 159, 576. 

Felt, 233, 313, ;J21, 340, 576, 579. 

Felton, 86, 576. 

Female education, 363. 

Fenno, 457, 474. 

Feme, 185, 57(i. See Fairne. 

Fernside, 576. 

Ferrv, ancient, 94, 98, 183. 

Fidler, 362. 

Field, 583. 

Fiiriit, prize, in Lynn, 436. 

Fillmore, 427, 583. 

Financial embarrassments in 1857, 452. 

Finncgan, 362. 

Fire Department, 402, 463. 

Fire Engines, 2-35. 359, 451 , 461, 477, 586 

Fire-flies, 80. 

Fires, 121. 130, 196, 22^3. 324, 325, 329, 
365, 368. 370, 386. 400, 402, 403, 407, 
410, 412, 414, 415. 416, 418. 421, 423, 
424. 425, 428, 429. 430. 431, 432, 437, 
43!), 443, 444. 44(5, 450, 452, 456, 457, 
458, 460, 462, 4fi4, 467, 469, 470, 471, 
472, 473, 477, 478. 

Y2 



First Church Covenant, 165. 

First interment in Old Burying Ground, 

171. In Pine Grove Cemetery, 426. 
First newspaper |)rinted in Lynn, 512. 
First Settlers. See Early Settlers. 
First wiiite person born here, 126, 482. 
Fish, (surname,) 576, 589. 
Fish, (of the sea.) 80, 141, 144, 219, 

395, 433, 439, 450, 451, 4.52, 461, 462. 

Great fares of, 443, 448, 463, 473, 

478. 
Fisher, 310. 
Fiske, 473, 576. 

Fitch, 111, 120, 172, 190, 214, 576. 
Fitzpatrick, 445, 454, 467. 
Flag, colonial, 149, 280, 347. 
Flaffg, 345, 358, 372, 379, 497. 
Flanders, 466. 
Flannel, manufacture of, at Saugus, 

395, 405. 
Flax, 132. 

Flax Pond, 132, 143. 
Flint, 257, 265, 335, 339, 576, 580, 581. 
Flood, 191, 576. See Floyd. 
Flora, (slave,) 391,. 392. 
Florence. .579, .580. 
Floyd, 153, 171, 576. Sec Flood. 
Flushing, L. I., settled, in 1640, by 

Lynn people, 196. 
Flynn, 4()4. 
Foley, 205, 235. 
Foliage, autumn, 82. 
Foote, 427. 

Foot-prints in rock, 69. 
Foot races, 443, 448, 452, 456. 
Forbes, 351,456. 
Forret, 192. 

Fortune teller, (Moll Pitcher,) 374, 
Foss, 465. 
Foster, 153, 171, 207, 417, 426, 465, 

466, .576. 
Fott. 576. 

Fovvie, 158, 3.58, 484. 
Fox, 162, 303. 
Foxcroft, 465. 
Foxes, 299, 319, 329, 445. 
Foye, 465. 

Fraile, 153, 172, 576. 
Franklin, 413. 
Fraser. 465. 
Free Church, 432, .58.5. 
Freeman, [surname,) 153, 169, .576. 
Freeman, (qualified resident.) 158. 
Freemasons, 367, 300, 394, 401, 414. 
French, 439. 

Friction Matches come into use, 400. 
P'riends. See Quakers. 
Frost, (surname,) 235, 457, 583, 587. 



602 



HISTORY OP LYNN. 



Frosted Trees, 399, 445. 508. 

Frosts, 327, 358, 37!), 402, 404, 456. 

Frotliiiiffham, 366, 588. 

Fruit, large croi^s of, 306, 463, 472. 

Fugitive slave law of'J850, 426. 

Fuller, 22, 153, 186, 252, 256, 262, 287, 
292, 359, 362, 4 1 8, 450, 479. (505 to 
511 contain a biojrrapliical notice of 
Maria Auffiista Fuller.) 530, 576, 
578, 580, 581, 585. 

Fulton, 576. 

Funerals, customs at, 103, 230, 276. 

Funerals of deceased soldiers, 471. 

Furbush, 430. 

Furnace, great and little, 66. 

G. 

Gaiie, 316, 338, 575. 

Gaines, 172, 190, 576. 

Gale, (surname,) 433, 447. 

Gales. See Winds. Storms. Tem- 
pests. 

Galucia, 579. 

Gannett, 587, 589. 

Garder, 184. 26:5, 57o. 

Gardner, 306, 308, 358,391,397,498, 
.575, 581. 

Garments, fashions of. See Dress. 

Gas, illuminating, 436, 438, 463. 

Gaskins, 345. 

Gates, 435, 436, 514. 

Gaunt, 576. 

Gear and Geere, 153, 576, 582, 583. 

Gedney, 157. 

Genealogiks : 
Bassett, 185. 
Burrill, 115,492 
Hart, 227. 
Lewis, 181 

Newhall, tracing the lineage of four- 
teen of the heads of families of 
the name, now among us, up to 
Thomas, the first individual of 
European parentage, born here, 
483 to 488. 
■ Witt, 190. 
General Court, 134, 146, 164, 165, 169, 

250, 256, 322, 335, 578. 
Geologv of Lviin, 72, 408. 
George', 172, 576, 583. 
George Rumnev Marsh alias George 
No-Nose, (Indian,) 38, 39, 41, 42, 51, 
131, 182, 203, 232, 241, 242. 
Gerrv, 343, 350, 575, 576. 
Gettings, 236. 
Gibbons, 36, 180. 
Gibson, 546, 576. 



Gifford, 91, 207, 226, 229, 230, 233, 
235, 259, 276, 576. 

Gift, (slave,) 344. 

Gilbert, 466. 

Giles, 576. 

Gill, 580. 

Gillow, 179, 186, 576 

Gilloway, 576. 

Gingle, 576. 

Girls, lost, 141, 203. See Deaths. 

Glover, 136. 

Goats, 196, 232. 

Goddard, .576. 

Godson, 172, 175, 576, 

Goff, 310. 

Goldthwaite, 421. 

Golt, 282, 576. 

Goodaie, 576. 

Goodridire, 465. 

Gookin,'33, 40, 47. 

Gool, 576. 

Gore, 352, 369, 575. 

Gorges, 30, 31, 32, 34. 180, 198. 

Gosnold, 28, 29, 40. 

Goss, 584. 

Gott, 576. 

Gould, 186. 226, 250, 251, 345, 576. 

Gove, 438, 486. 

Governors of Massachusetts, list of, 575. 

Gowdev, 381. 

Gowing or Gowau, 227, 298, 330, 331, 
450, '576. 

Graham, 169. 

Granite, 73. 

Grasshoppers, 62, 25G, 328. 

Gravel houses, 440. 

Graves, 113, 120, 226, 263, 282, 576, 
584. 

Gravesend. origin of name, 121. 

Gravesend, L. I., settled in 1640, by 
Lynn i)eople, ]\)6. 

Gravestone, oldest in Lvnn, 299. 

Gray, 309, 312, 328, 362, 369. (419 
and '20 contain a notice of George 
Gray the Lynn hermit.) 479. (496 
to .500 contain a biographical sketch 
of William Grav, the eminent mer 
chant.) 576, 579, 582. 

Green and Greene, 229, 389, 391, 417, 
576, 582, 587. 

Greenhill, 205. 235. 

Greenland, 306, 308, 576. 

Greenwood, 576. 

Griffin, 185, 466, 475, 576. 

Grotto, Irene's, 60. 

Grotto, Mary's, 66. 

Grout, 434. 

Grover, 417, 466. 



INDEX. 



603 



Gmnnill, 576. 

Guirev, 361. 

Gums not to be used by, or sold to, the 

Indians, 135, 140. 
Giniiey, 442. 
Gustin, 576. 

H. 

Haberfield, 292, 293, 576. 

Hacker, 185, 576. 

H.ackett, 576. 

Haddock, 80, 450. 

Hadlov, 339, 580. 

Hail, 278, 259, 441,461. 

Hair, lonjr, 224, 238, 328. See Beard. 

Hale, 296, 576. 

Half-wav Covenant, 166. 

Hail, 120, 121, 256, 362. 576, 588. 

Haiiani, 584. 

Hallett, 181. 

Hal]o\vell,327,.341,580. See Holloway. 

Halsall, 576. 

Halscy, 172, 174, 194, 214, 216, 576. 

Haniniond, 171, 576, 592. 

Hatn|)ton, N. H., settled in 1638, by 

Lynn peojjle, 179. 
Hanafbrd, ,583. 
Hancock, 345, 350, 57.5. 
Handfbrth, 153, 172, 278, 576. 
Hannibal, (slave,) 344, 345. 
Hanson, 471, 546. 

Hardier, 155, 172, 193, 194, 242, 576. 
Hani man, .576. 
Harker, 576. 
H;u-lo\v, 576. 
Harndale, 576. 
Harriden, 466. 
Harris, 107, 247, 248, 300, 383, 402, 

465, 466, 580, 584, 588. 
Harrison, 408. 
Harsey, 52. 
Hart, 55, 188, 189, 226. (227 contains 

a jrenealoiry of tiie Hart family.) 263, 

292, 294. 295, 576, 579, 580. 
Hartvvell, 377. 
HascalJ, 583. 
Hasel, 231. 
Hasev, 30(), 308. 
Haskell, 190, 447, 576. 
Haskins, 576. 
Hatch, 589. 
Hathaway, 123. 
Hathorne. 124, 176, 186, 196, 2.33, 240, 

252, 253, 258, 261, 265, 282, 576. 
Flaveu, 186, 211, 292, 482, .576. 
Hawkes, 95, 121, 172, 219, 2.30, 2-33, 

240, 251, 282, 292, 324, 345, 473, 

576, 581, 588. 



Hawkins, 151, 313, 576. 

Ilawlev, 475. 

llay, 440, 576. 

Haynes, 575, 576 

Hay ward, 266. 

Hazen. 332. 

llazeltine, 403. 

Healey, 576. 

Hedding, 583. 

Hed<je,242, .576. 

Hempstead, (surname,) 584. 

Hempstead, L. I., settled in 1640, by 

Lvnn people, 196. 
Hencliman, 318, 322, 326, 327, 329, 

332, 333, 474, 477, 580, 582. 
Hendlev, 448. 
Henshaw, 582 ' 

Hentz, 275. 
Hepburn, 417. 
Herbert, 434. 

Hermit of Lynn — George Gray, 419. 
Herrick, 584. 

Hewes, 212, 213, 576, 579, 581, 587 
Hickocke, 20.5. 

Iligginson, 34, 38, 51, 239, 265. 
High, 583. 

High Rock, 68, 72, 403, 417, 421. 
High School, 428. List of Principals, 

581. 
Highway Robbery, 379. See Robberies. 
Hill and Hills, (surnames,) 185, 452, 

465, 576, 579. 580, 587. 
Hill, Lindsev's, 125. 
Hill, Pine, 69. 
Hill. Sagamore, 69. 
Hill, Wuidmill, 127. 
Hildreth, .368, 414, 58L 
Hiller, 466. 
Hilliard, 576. 
Hincklev, 584. 
Hinds, 583, 587 
Ilinks, 465, 468. 
Hinkson, 576, 
Ilitchings, Hitchens, 263,282, 356, 380, 

576, 580, 581, 588. 
Hithersay, 211. 
Hixon. 465. 
Hobart, 274. 
Ilobbv, 327, 333 
Ilodirkins, 261,469. 
Hodgman, 448, 587. 
Hog, large, 414. 
Hoiran, 395. 
Holbrook, 536. 
Holcraft, 91. 
Holder, 462, 581. 
Holham, 576. 
Holloway, 186, 576. See Hallowell. 



G04 



HISTORY OP LtNN. 



Holinan, 588. 

Holmes, 106, 131, 230, 231, 426. 

Holswortli, 576. 

Holyoke, (surname,) 121 to 125, 128, 

171, 242, 576, 578. 
Holyoke, ]Moiiiit, origin of name, 123. 
Holyoke Spring, 70, 121. 
Homicides in Lynn, 430, 437, 472. 
Hood, 53, 184, 185, 186, 200, 292, 294, 

298, 305, 312, 335, 362, 424, 425, 426, 

429, 433, 445, 479, 484. (542 to 544 

contain a biographical notice of Geo. 

Hood, the first Mayor of Lynn.) 576, 

581, 585. 
Hooke, 196. 
Hooker, 224. 
Hooper, 201. 
Hopkins, 140. 

Horse-mackerel, 444, 447, 457. 
Horse Rail-ioads, 463, 467, 473. 
Horse Trot in 1816, in Lynn, 379. 
Hort, 576. 
Horton, 583. 
Hot Weather, 169, 319, 321. 328, 371. 

379, 381, 390, 413, 415, 447, 477. 
Hotel, Nahant, built, 382. P2astern 

wing blown down, 438. Description 

of, 469. Destroyed by fire, 469. 
Hotels built. Lynn, 365. Mineral 

Spring, 371. Sagamore, 439. 
Hotels. See Taverns. 
Houghton, 576. 
Houses, construction and fashion of, 

114, 132,440,590. 
Howard, 187, 357, 576, 580. 
Howe, 124, 125, 135, 143, 167, 169, 171, 

172, 175, 177, 178, 190, 192, 193, 194, 

576, 578, 579, 584. 

Howell, 143, 157, 171, 194, 195,214, 

223, 576. 
Hoyt, 465. 
Hubbard, 101, 125, 190, 214, 216, 259, 

292, 316, 473, 576, 581. 
Hudson, 125, 152, 157, 172, 191, 192, 

205, 208, 218, 292, 307, 434, 465, 576, 

580. 
Hushes, 212. 
Hull, 122, 2.56. 
Humfrey, 56, 114, 141, 147, 149, 152, 

165, 168, 169, 179, 180, 187, 191, 192, 

196 to 201, 241, 242, 285, 291, 576, 

577, 579. 
Hunnewell, 466. 
Hunt, 580. 

Hunting in Lauu woods, in 1855, 445. 
Hurd, 374, 379, 576, 582. 
Hussev, 125, 139, 160, 162, 179.239, 
351,* 390, 482, 576. 



Husted, 583. 

Hutchins, 120, 293, 576. 

Hutchinson, 138, 151, 164, 169, 172. 

178, 183, 214, 218, 228, 251, 255, 334. 

340, 361, 417, 437, 455, 489, 490, 491 

575, 576, 579. 
Hydrophobia, distressing death by, 467 

L 

Ice business, 443, 474. 

Ice in July, 326. 

Impressions of feet in rock, 6 . 

Impressment of soldiers, 263, 291, 326. 
331. 

Independence, celebrations of, 366, 368, 
371,391,403,421,451,456. 

India Rubber Overshoes introduced, 
386. 

Indian Deed of Lynn, 49, 282. 

Indian Skeleton found, 388. 

Indian Summer, 82, 440. 

Indian Wars, 167, 262. See Wars. 

Indians, 17 to 21, 32 to 49, 135 to 141, 
167, 178. 203, 209, 252, 262 to 265, 
288, 321, 412, 423, 462. (And for 
sketches of several of the more prom 
inent Indians who resided in this vi- 
cinity, see Biographical Sketches.) 

Ingalls, 111, 112,^171, 191, 200, 223, 
240, 331, 351, 425, 450, 465, 466, 
576, 580, 589. 

Ingerson, 577. 

Imis. See Taverns 

Inoculation for small-pox, 342. 

Inscriptions. See Epitaphs. 

Insects, destructive. See Caterpillars. 
Canker Worms. 

Installations. See Ordinations. 

Institutions for savings, 390, 445, 585. 

Instruction. See Education. Schools. 

Instructions to John Carnes, Repre- 
sentative, in 1786, 352. 

Insurance Companies, 391, 398, 433. 

Intoxication. See Drunkenness. 

Inventions, mechanical, 220, 236, 389. 

Irene's Grotto, 60. 

Ireson, 172, 187, 241, 528, 577, 580. 

Iron Works on Saugus river, first in 
the country, 69, 97, 204, 211, 212, 
213, 217 to' 224, 230, 233, 234, 235, 
251, 259, 266, 280. 

Iron Castings, first in the country, 208. 

Iron Mine Ledge, 61, 213, 292. 

Iron Factory, Oak st. (T. N. Breed's,) 
411. 

Iron-workers, 206, 207, 208, 229, 411. 

Iverts, 577. 

Ivory, 172, 173, 226, 227, 577. 



INDEX. 



605 



J. 

Jackson, 372, 373, 399, 400, 414, 453, 

500, 538, 587, 588. 
Jacob and Jacobs, 307, 372, 519, 577, 

580. 
Jamaica, L. I., settled in 1640, by Lynn 

people, 190. 
James, (surname,) 329, 580. 
James, (Indian,) 34, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 

112, 131, 140,264,282. 
Janes, 3()6, 443, 583, 589. 
Jarvis, 580. 
Jav, 349. 
Jayne, 583. 
JefFerds, 577 
Jefferson, 35 
JefFrev, 322. 
Jeffries, 427. 
Jenkins, 182,305,577. 
Jenks, 208, 220, 231, 233, 234, 23r 251. 

252, 256, 257, 260, 577. 
JenniniTS, 118. 
Jennison, 587. 
Jewell, .584. 

Jewett, 21], 236, 439, 571, 577. 
Jillson, 446. 

Jocelvn, 577. See Josselyn. 
Jolin,' (Indian,) 36, 38, 131, 146. 
John's Peril, 61. 
Johnson, 51. 112, 127, 132, 154, 162, 172, 

198, 200. 204, 2:32, 252, 282, 291, 292, 

293, 297, 312, 342, 344, 362, 365, 367, 

447, 452, 465, 466, 485, 533, 577, 578, 

579, 580, 581, 584, 585, 589. 
Jones, 224, 465, 485, 577, 580, 589. 
Jortin, 403. 
Josselyn, 29, 42, 196, 255, 382, 423, 442, 

582, 589. See Jocelyn. 
Joy, 408. 
Joyce, 577. 
Justices of the Peace, first in Lynn, 

under the Constitution, 345. 

K. 

Keavne, 121, 158, 178, 183, 214, 215, 

216, 240, 577. 
Keene, 465. 

Keith, 109, 300, 301, 302, 303, 465. 
Kellev, 465, 466, 583. 
Kendall, 577. 
Kent, 583. 
Kerlland, 88, 154, 155, 172, 192, 193, 

194, 226, 256, 266, 282, 577. 
Kevser, 121, 122, 125, 143, 187, 241, 

577. 
Kibbey, 372, 583. 
Kiching, 211. 
Kidder, 421. 

Y2* 



Kieft, 192. 

Kilhnrn, 583. 

Kiml)all, 417, 465, 466, 582. 

King, 51, 52, 53, 126, 130, 200, 204, 

220, 221, 222, 228, 257, 266, 275, 

287, 291, 292, 577. 
Kingsbury, 450. 
Kirbv, 577. 
Kirk", 226. 
Kirman, 577. 
Kleezkowska, 474, 
Kneeland, .577. 
Knisiht, 171, 190, 222, 251, 296,577, 

584. 
Knott, 169, 577. 
Knowlton, 450, 584. 
Kossuth, 433. 
Kunkshamooshaw, (Indian,) 40, 51, 54, 

282. 



Labor, prices of, at different periods. 

See Prices. 
Laborda, 466. 
Ladies' Dress. See Dress. 
Ladies' Fairs, 404, 422, 469. 
Lafayette, Gen., his visits to Lynn, 351, 

388. 
Laiehton, 155. 171, 214, 215, 236, 241, 

256, 266, 267, 287, 577, 578, 580. 
Lake, 466. 

Lambert, 190, 223, 465 577. 
Lamberton, 129 
Lambord, 583. 
Lamjihier, 423. 
Lam son, 581. 

Land, ancient mode of conveying, 258. 
Landing, Ballard's, 98. 
Landing, Needham's, 98. 
Lands, division of, 171, 252, 306. 
Lane, 577. 
Langlev, 176, 577. 
Larkin,'.321,415. 
Larrabee, 339, 357, 577, 580. 
Lathrop, 154, 577. 
Laud, 102. 
Lauriat, 403, 411. 
Lawrence, 330, 373, 382, 383, 384, 385, 

588. 
Lawsuits. 196, 203, 221, 234, 241, 251, 

252, 258, 259, 260, 266, 267, 297, 308. 
Lawyers, 370, 372, 409, 435, 585. 
Lav, 577. 
Leader, 206, 213, 220, 222 224, 229, 

577. 
Le Beau, 117. 
Leap from High Rock, 403, 
Leap, Lover's, 69, 72, 403, 550. 



C06 



HISTORY OP LYNN. 



Leavitt, 31. 

Lechford, 32, 104. 

Lee, 354, 362, 577. 

Legg, 242, 577. 

Legislature. See General Court. 

Leit; 26. 

Lenthall, 31. 

Leonard, 206, 207, 230, 259, 577. 

Letter of Rev. Mr. Whiting to Increase 
Mather, 265. 

Letter of Rev. Messrs. Wliiting and 
Cobbet to Cromwell, 229. 

Letters of Ehenezer Breed, embodying 
information respecti-ng tlie shoe trade 
of Lynn, soon after the Revolution, 
523 to 526. 

Leveivtt, 158, 261, 575. 

Lewis, 11, 13, 20, 23, 24, 28, 43, 49, 54, 
62, 67, 68, 72, 79, 84, 91, 96, 101, 108, 
116, 120, 125, 126, 128, 129, 133, 147, 
151. 154, 155, 156, 158, 163, 166, 167, 
169, 170, 173, 180, 181, 182, 184, 195, 
199, 200, '201, 204, 205, 206, 209, 215, 
225, 227, 228, 235, 238, 243, 244, 245, 
246, 266, 267, 275, 279, 280, 283, 287, 
289, 292, 293, 294, 299, 300. 313, 316, 
317, 318, 321, 324, 325, 330, 333, 342, 
343, 344, 352,355, 363, 368, 371, 381, 
382, 390, 393, 395, 404. 405, 408, 412, 
421, 452, 461, 470, 478, 479, 481, 482, 
489, 490, 505, 512, 514, 528, 529, 541, 
544. (544 to 565 contain a biograph- 
ical sketch of Alonzo Lewis, the his- 
torian. And on page 181 may be 
found his genealogy.) 566, 577, 580, 
581, 582, 590. 

Lexington, battle of, 338. 

Libraries, 381, 387, 443, 458, 471, 517. 

Lightfoot, 155, 172, 203, 215, 577. 

Light Houses, 61, 429, 448, 450, 461, 
556. 

Light Infantry, Lvnn, 372, 389, 416, 
437, 465. See Militarv. 

Lightning, 69, 2.56, 2.59," 322, 326, 329, 
331, 351, 361, 364, 367, 368, 370, 395, 
397, 401, 403, 407, 415, 421, 425, 431, 
437,438,447,453,461,471. 

Lilley, 184, 577. 

Lincoln, 434, 462, 463, 464, 511, 575, 
584. 

Lindsey, 125, 241, 263, 282, 325, 331, 
345, 577, 579, 580. 

Lindsey's Hill, 125. 

Linen, manufacture of, in Lynn, 321, 
378, 379. 

Linnaeus, 91, 560. 

Lislet, 22. 

Little, 538. 



Loan and Fund Associations, 441. 

Lobster Rocks, 62, 392. 

Lobsters, 80, 144, 371. 

Locke, 263, 282, 265, 577 

Lockier, lOJ). 

Lockjaw, 439, 451. 

Log Cabins, 408. 

Long, 247, 248. 

Longevity. See Aged Persons. 

Longfellow, 85. 

Long Island, N. Y., settlement of Lynn 
people on, in 1640, 192. 

Lonslev, 155, 172, 175, 176, 215, 236, 
252, 253, 577, 580. 

Look, 577. 

Loid, 239, 253, 255. 

Lord's day, 110. See Sabbath, 

Loring, 581. 

Loudon, 331. 

Lousee, 465. 

Lovell, 226. 577. 

Lovejoy, 570, 581, 583. 

Lover's Leap, 69, 72, 4a3, 550. 

Lumber, amount of, lauded in Lynn, 
in 1858, 454. 

Lummis, 581. 

Lummus, 387, 390, 396, 479, 502. 
(511 to 519 contain a biographical 
sketch of Charles F. Lummus, the 
first printer established in Lynn.) 
,527, 533, 541, 569, 581, 582. 

Luscomb. See Lyscom. 

Lyceum and Lyceum Hall, 392, 408, 
"428. 

Lye, 227, 577, 580. 

Lyell, 583. 

LYNN : 

Indian Deed of, 49. 

General Description — Topography, 

Phenomena, Natural History, 56. 
First settlement of, 111. 
Incorporation of, 134. 
Description of, in 16-33, bv Wood, 

143 ; and in 1651, by Johnson, 232. 
Receives its present name, 169; the 

orthography and origin of the 

name, 170. 
Lands divided, 170, 306. 
Surnames of all the early resiilents 

of, 576. 
First Directory of, published, 517. 
Citv form of government adopted, 

424. 
Population of, at different periods, 

585. 
(And see Tables beginning on page 

576.) 



INDEX. 



607 



L}'nn Rlutual Fire Inswance Compa- 
ny fortiied, 3'Jl. 
Lyun Village, 182, 196, 212. 

LITVNFIELD: 

Territory tbnniiis:, granted to Lynn, 

17U. 
Made a District, or Parish, 309. 
Incorporated as a Town, 377. 
Forest Hill Cemetery consecrated, 

448. 
Lists of Representativ'cs, Postmas- 
ters, Town Clerks, Religious So- 
cieties, and Ministers, 587. 
And see ])a<j;es, 7(i, 149, 183, 306, 
310, 318, 323, 324, 330, 332, 334, 342, 
345, 352, 362, 379, 380, 387, 388, 403, 
404, 407, 409, 410, 421, 425, 426, 436, 
440, 441, 447, 452, 458, 461, 463, 469, 
470. See also Deatlis. Lightning. 
Fires. Storms. 
Lvnnmere, 71. 

Lyscom, Luscomb, 226, 449, 454, 466, 
577. 

M. 

Mackaliim, 577. 

Mackerel, 80, 144, 439, 478. 

Macomber, 465. 

Macreading, 583. 

Madison, 521. 

Madoc, 28. 577. 

Madockawando, (Indian,) 238, 289. 

Maffit, 589. 

Magazines, powder. 326, 366. 

Magee, 63, 384. 

Magnetic Telegraph, 418, 444, 453, 

454, 469. 
Mahoney, 466. 
Mailey, 451. 
• Makepeace, 320, .360, 487, 581, 588. 
Malicious mischief, 259. 
Mallalieu, 583. 

Manataliqna, (Indian,) 39, 41. 
Mann, 445, 589. 
Manners and Customs of olden time, 

99, 103, 107, 132, 133, 183, 209, 236, 

240, 276, 347, 378, 496. 
Manning, 584. 

Mansfield, 122, 145^151, 172, 175, 176, 
-18^188, 189, im 229, 240, 253, 256, 

266, 282, 29% QD8, 32:}, 328, 329, 331, 

334, 338, 340j .341, 344, 351, 381, 425, 

458, 486, 492. 577, 578, 579, 580, 583, 

587, ^S. ^^ 
Mansfield's End, origin of name, 187. 
Maplesdarme, 577. 
Map of Lvnn, first complete, 395. 
Marble, 245 to 250, 430, 445. 



Marblehead, roads to, 250, 261. 

Marine Disasters. See Shipwrecks. 

Market, ancient, at Lynn, 221. 

Marriage ceremony, 103, 243, 250, 258, 
267. 

Marsh, 371, 581, 583. 

Marshall, 155, 156, 1.57, 172, 214, 217, 
240, 243, 250, 258, 262, 282, 577, 578, 
579. 

Marshes, salt, 76, 144, 365, 366, 408. 

Marston. 386. 

Martin, 120, 1^2, 214, .341, 346, 347, 
465, 466, 471, 495, 533, 577, 580. 

Marvin, 588. 

Mary's Grotto, 66. 

Masconomo, (Indian,) 138. 

Mason, 275. 

Masonic Celebration. 390. See Free- 
masons. 

Massasoit, (Indian,) .3.3, 262. 

Massey, 359, 391, 580. 

Matches, friction, come into use, 400. 

MatiJier, 48, 49, 71, 159, 178, 199, 236, 
237, 238, 260, 265, 272, 276, 296, 316. 

Matrimonial Difficulties, 37, 223, 276. 

Matthew, 423. 

Maule, 125. 

Mavrick, 118, 121, 146,577. 

Mayfield, 577. 

Mayo, 201,587, 589. 

Mayors of Lvnn, list of, 581. 

McCurdv, 584. 

McDavit, 466. 

McDonald, 396. 

McDugal, 577. 

McGuire, 437. 

McKeovvn, 583. 

McMallen, 577. 

Mead, 466. 

Meadows, 77. 

Measurements and Distances, 585. 

Meeting-houses, 107, 1.39, 197,232,267, 
277, 292, 293. 299, 305, 309, 310, 320, 
324, 372, 374, 379, -388, .390, 395, 398, 
400, 402, 403, 404, 415, 428, 431, 435, 
443, 447, 451, 452, 454, 458, 460, 464, 
469, 586. 

Mellen, 466. 

Memoirs. See Biographical Sketches. 

Meriam, 208, 309, 320. 326, 577. 

Merrihue, 577. 

Merrill, 370, 465, 583, 584. 

Menitt, 362, 426, 436, 439, 465, 580, 
583. 

Mesmerism, or Animal Magnetism, 408. 

Metal Pens come into use, 401. 

Meteors, 36.3, 396, 400, 446, 461. See 
Celestial Phenomena. 



608 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



Metlio(1ist Conferences at Lynn, 362, 

456. 
Metliodist Societies and Ministers, 354, 

583, 584, 587, 588, 58!». 
Miantonimo, (Indian,) 17, 33. 
Miles, 200. 

Military, 135, 138, 140, 141, 143, 147, 
177, "212, 213, 216, 220, 234, 243, 255, 
262, 275, 292, 305, 331, 341, 358, 370, 
372, 377, 414, 416, 418, 433, 434, 453, 
4()5, 469, 579. 
Miller, 414, 4(56, 584. • 
Millerisin, 414. 
Millett, 414. 
Mills, (surname,) 291, 297, 299, 311, 

440, 446, 456, 577. 
Mills, (fbr?rindin?,)119, 127, 128, 143, 
147, 153, 157, 165, 200, 220, 234, 235, 
320, 3!t7. 
Milner, 190, 577. 
Mineral Spring, 71, 98, 257, 265, 279, 

300, 371. 
Ministers, 146. 1.59, 169, 277, 341, 398, 
401, 402, 407, 412, 428, 443. Suc- 
cession of, in the various societies of 
Lynn, Lvnnfield, Saugus, Swamps- 
cot, and'Naiiant, .583 to .589. And 
see Ordinations. Salaries. 
Minot, 62. 

Minot's Ledjxe Light, 429, 461. 
Mint, for coining silvei', estahlished at 

Boston, in 16.52, 233. 
Mirage, 82, 278. See Celestial and At- 
mospheric Phenomena. 
Misdemeanors. See Punishments. 
Missionary Society, first Methodist, 

formed, 381. 
Mitciiell, 2.57, 278, 468, 469. 
Moll Pitcher, the fortune-teller, 374. 
Monev, 43, 150, 233, 260, 291, 319; 322, 

34.3,351. 
Montovvauipate, (Indian,) 36, 38, 137, 

138, 140, 146. 
Moodv, 187, 188, 199, 201, 204,214, 

221 ; 238, 239, 387, 444, 577. 
Moore, 189, 461, 542, 577, 581, 582, 

584. 
Morgan, 577. 
Morley, 140, 577. 
Mormonisin in Lynn, 398. 
Morocco leather, manufacture of, 363, 

.520. • 
Morrill. 456. 
Morris, 122. 

Morton, 101, 257, 417, 575. 
Mosses, pressing of, 418. 
Mott, 584. 
Mottey, 85, 345, 387, 587. 



Moulton, 437, 466, 479. (.502, '3 and '4 
contain a biographical notice of Sol- 
omon Moulton.) 580, 592. 

Mount llolyoke, origin of name, 123. 

Mount Toiii, origin of name, 124. 

Mower, 190, 282, 324, 577. 

Mudge, 201, 202, 227, 331, 336, 366, 
370, 373, 377. 396, 401, 402, 426, 433, 
473, 479, 492, 501. (.5.3(5 contains a 
biographical notice of Rev. Enoch 
Mudge. And 538 contains a bio- 
grapiiical notice of Kzra Mudge.) 
580, 581, 582, 583, 589, 592. 

Mudgett, 465. 

Mu«l Mouses, so called, 440. 

Mulliken, 417, 418, .581. 

Mumiuquash, (Indian,) 2()4. 

Minn-oe, 339, 340, 380, 465, 468, 470, 
580. 

Munyan, .577. 

Murders in Lynn, 430, 4,37, 472. 

3Iurrav, 466. 

Music" band of, formed in Lynn, 434. 

Musical Association, 443. 

Mylcs, 109. 

N. 

N ATI ANT: 

Early accounts of, 26 to 32. 

Description of, topographical, and 

general, 58 to 67. 74. 75, 80 to 85. 

Purchase of, from Indian Sagamore, 

for a suit of clothes, claimed by 

Thom.-is Dexter, 131, 148, 240 to 

242, 2(57. 

Efforts of Randolph to obtain grant 

of from Andros, 284, to 291. 
Sea-serpent's ai)pearance in the wa- 
ters of, .382. 
Incorporated as a separate town, 436.* 
Hotel built, 382; description of, 469; 

destroyed by fire, 4(5!). 
Names ofTowu Clerks, Postmasters, 

and Ministers, 58!). 
And see pages 20, 2(5, 41, .57, 63, 70, 
112, 119, 131, 135, 141, 144, 148, 204, 
213, 233. 240, 2.57, 2(51, 2!)1, 292, 297, 
306, 307, 308, 30i), 311, 312, 319, 334, 
335, 362, 365, 370, 378, 380, 381, 389, 
395, 407, 421, 429, 431, 438, 444, 451, 
4.52, 453, 4.57, 463, 474. 
See also Deaths. Fires. Lightning. 
Shipwrecks. Storms. Tides. 
Nahanton, (Indian,) 41, 42. 
Names, double, 488. 
Nanapashemet, (Indian,) 33 to 38, 40, 

26:3, 282. 
Narremore, 577. 



INDEX. 



609 



Natural Rridjje. 60. 

Natural History Society, 410. 

Neal, ]8.>, 199, 579, 581. See Neill. 
~Neck 577. 

Neediiam,* 98, 188, 189, 194, 2'i8, 5^24, 
577. 

Needle, singular case of, in liuman 
body, 457. 

Ne<rros. See Colored Race. Slavery. 
Slaves. 

Nejrus, 125, 577. 

Neill, 474. See Nea 

Nelson, .584. 

Newbold, 185. 

Newcomb, 587. 

Newell, 370, 416, 426, 581. 

Newliall, 125, 1-39, 155, 172, 181, 185, 
186, 194, 263, 283, 293, 297, 306, 312, 
320, 327, 328, .334, 341, 342, 345, 317, 
348, 361 , 364, 370, 382, 387, 391, 398, 
402, 407, 409, 410, 417, 418, 420, 429, 
442, 443, 447, 465, 472, 479, 577, 578, 
579, 580, 581, 582, 585, 587, 588. . . . 
And biographical notices of deceased 
members of tiie Newliall family may 
be found as follows: 

Thomas Newliall, the first white 
person born in Lynn ; with a ge- 
nealogical sketch of the Newhall 
fiimily, 482. 
Jacob (Landlord) Newhall, 494. 
Josiah Newhall. (Hon.) 533. 
Asa T. Newhall, (Hon.) 5-37. 
Francis S. Newhall, (Hon.) 539. 
Isanc Newhall, 540. 
Benjamin F. Newhall, 567. 

Newland, 577. 

Newman, 577, 579, 580. 

Newspaper, first in Lynn, 512. 

Newspaper Editors, list of, 582. 

Newspapers, 390, 395, 396, 398, 405, 407, 
410, 413, 423, 439, 442, 4.56, 512, 582. 

Newton, 276, 465, 466, 560. 

Nicholet, 261. 

Nichols, 201, 342, 362, 407, 465, 58-3, 
584, 588. 

Nicholson, 577. 

Nickerson, 398. 

Nicknames, 488, 514. 

Night Arches. See Northern Lights. 

Noble, 589. 

Nonnpanohow, (Indian,) 39, 41, 51, 54. 

Noonan, 465. 

Normenton, 297, 484, 577. 

Norris, 208, 583. 

North Spring, 70. 

Northern Lights, 313, 323, 327, 335, 
338, 391, 396, 402, 457. 



Northey, 185. 

Norton, 238, 239. 

Norwood, 228, 293, 326, a32, 341, 347, 

577. 
Notary Public established in Lynn, 

361. 
Nourse, 416, 580. 
Nowell, 115, 152. 
Noyes, 415, 584. 
Nullification, Lyim vs. South Carolina, 

399, 427. 
Nultonanit, (Indian,) 32. 
Nye, .577. 

O. 

Oak, old, 147. 

Oakes, 228, 262, 305, 577. 

Oakman, 577. 

Obatinua, (Indian,) 35. 

Observatory, Astronomical, at Lynn, 

469. 
Old Burying Ground. See Burying 

Grounds. 
Old Mansfield House, 592. 
Old People. See Aged Persons. 
Old Tenor, 319. 
Old Tunnel Meeting-house, 277. See 

Meeting-houses. 
Olden, .525. 

Oldest Grave-stone, 299. 
Oldham, 31, 32, 
Oliver, 158, 183, 267, 414, 465, 577, 

581, 582. 
Oinnilius commences running, 435. 
Onslow, 490. 
Oonsumog, (Indian,) 40. 
Opium eater, 526. 
Ordinations and Installations, 165, 276, 

318, 323, 325, 329, 330, 333, 345, 351, 

358, 366, 374, 380, 388, 389, 394, 398, 

400, 402, 407, 410, 412, 428, 443, 460, 
472. 

Orgin, 580. 

Orr, 466. 

Osgood, 584. 

Ossian, 19, 508. 

Otheman, 583. 

Otis, 117,444. 

Otley, 190, 577, 579. 

Otway, 577. 

Over-shoes, India rubber, introduced, 

386. 
Owen, 466, 584. 
Owls, 433, 473. 
Oxenbridge, 261. 
Ox-wagon, first in Lynn, 348, 
Oyster Bay, L. 1., settled in 1640, by 

Lynn people, 196. 

39 



610 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



Pacey, 916. 

Packet schooner run between Lyun 

and Boston, 327. 
Padington, 194. 
Padisludl, 2!)7. 
Pajre, 122, 257, 582. 
Pahpocksitt, (Indian,) 33, 41. 
Paine and Payne, 11)0, 2GG, 521, 5*77, 

583, 584. 
Painter, 582. 
Palfrey, 141. 

Palmer, 200, 380, 447, 465, 587. 
Papasiquineo, (Indian,) 37. 
Paper Money. See Money. 
Pai-eus, 91. 

Parker, 157, 172, 383, 577, 583. 
Parris, 294. 
Parrott, 362. 421, 580. 
Parsonage, First Parish, and Parsonage 

Lands. 353. 
Parsons, 112, 351, 356, 357, 577, 582. 
Partridge, 172, 577. 
Passaconaway, (Indian.) 36. 
Patience, 577. 
Patten, 417, 465. 
Paul, 259, 577. 
Payne. See Paine. 
Payson, 351, 417. 
Payton, 577. 
Pea Island, 59. 

Peabody, 398, 401, 466, 580, 582. 
Peach, 580. 

Peale and Peele, 410, 571 
Pearls, discovery of, 451. 
Pearson, 577. 
Pease, 258. 
Peat Meadows, 77. 
Peck, 583. 
Pedestrian exercises and contests, 443, 

448, 452, 456. 
Pedigrees. See Genealogies. 
Pell, 172, 577. 
Pendleton, 35.3. 
Penfield, 228, .577. 
Pennerson, 365. 
Pennock, 523. 

Pens, Metal, come into use, 401. 
Pentland, .577. 
Pepoon, 580. 
Perdy, 430, 432. 
Peril, John's, 61. 
Perkins, 228, 238, 323, 330, 331, 344, 

345, 380, 382, 403, 577, 587. 
Perley, 582. 
Perrv, 379. 
Person, 228, 577, 578. 
Petagoonaquah, (Indian,) 39. 



Petagimsk, (Indian,) 39. 

Peters, 102, 135, 149, 192, 234. 

Peterson, 449. 

Petitions: Edward Randolph to Gov. 
Andros, for a grant of Nahant, 284. 
Soldiers of Watn])anoag war, for 
grant of lands, 281. 

Pews, meeting-house, 277. 

Phantom Ship, 129, 130. 

Pharaoh, (slave.) 344. 

Phebe, (slave,) 345. 

Phenomena at Saugus river, 387. 

Phenomena. See Celestial and Atmos- 
pheric Phenomena. 

Philbrick, 486. 

Phili|), (Indian,) 264. 

Phillips, 200, 228, 2:3.5, 239, 251, 257, 
261, 263, 305, 342, 345, 357, 359, 367, 
381, 453, 463. 466, 486, 577. 

Phippen, 379, 584. 

Phipps, 296, 575. 

Photographs, 409. 

Phrenology, 408. 

Physiciaiis, 226, 276, 345, 358, 396, 397, 
403, 410, 425, .533, 586. 

Pickering, 116, 196, 362, 490, 492, 493, 
541, 577, 583. 

Picknian, .577. 

Pic-nic at Lynnfield pond, distressing 
accident at, 426. 

Pic-nic, Spiritualist, at Dungeon Rock, 
471. 

Pierce, 141, 465, 581, 583. 

Pierpont, 412, .582. 

Pierson, 157, 192, 195, 577 

Pigden, 577. 

Pigeons, wild, 45. 

Pike, 262, 418, 465, 466. 

Pine Grove Cemetery. See Cemetery. 

Pine Hill, 69. 

Pine Tree Coins, 233. 

Pinion, 225, 251, 577. 

Piper, 592. 

Pirate, shipwreck of, 311. 

Pirate's Cave. See Dungeon Rock. 

Pirates' Glen, 70, 244, 249. 

Pirates, traditions concerning, 243. 

Pitcher, 330, 374, 375, 3C6. 

Pitt, 489, 490. 

Plant, 322. 

Plants found in Lynn, 79. 

Pluralitv Law, 438. 

Pococke, 205. 

Poetry, specimens of, by deceased na- 
tives Lynn. See Specimens of Po- 
etry. 

Poets and Prose Writers, native. See 
Writers. 



INDEX. 



611 



Police Court, Lynn, 493, 582. 
Political Mass-iiieetiujfs and Proces- 
sions, 414, 4(>2. 



Privateer, 373. 

Prize Fiirlit in Lynn, 430. 

Proliate Court at Lynn, 389, 4G3. 



Political Parties in Lynn, 319, 350, i Proctor, 184, 295, 3G3, 445, 577, 580, 



3()8, 3()9 
Polk, 417. 
Pollard, 584. 
Poinetacom, (King Philip, Indian,) 17, 

262 to 264. 
Ponipev, (slave,) 344. 
Ponds,"70, 127, 143, 149, 411. 
Ponus, (Indian,) 129. 
Pool, 1.57, J 71, 214, 577, 578, 589. 
Poor-house, 381, 423. 
Pope, 342, 577. 
Population ot'Lynn at different period.'', 

583. 
Poqnanuin, (Indian,) 39 to 41, 47, 119, 

141, 146. 
Porphvrv, 72. 
Porter, 342, 580, 583. 
Post-masters, 581, 587, 588, 589. 
Post-offices, 266, 357, 365, 398. 403, 421 . 
Potato Rot, 336, 416, 426, 432. 
Potatoes introduced, 312. 
Potter, 51, 126, 157, 171, 190, 221, 282, 

293, 320, 321, 482, 484, 577. 
Pottery established, 372. 
Pounds, 91. 
Pousland, 465. 
Powder Magazines, 326, 366 
Pownal, 575. 
Pranker, 405, 470. 
Pratt, 11,331,342,305,466. 
Prav, 190, 207, 225, 577. 
PraVer, 273. 

Prayeis, answer to, 238, 362. 
Prayers at funerals not customary here, 

in early times, 103. 
Preaching in the open air, 327, 44B. 
Preaching of Whitefield, in Lynn, 326, 

327. 
Predestination, doctrine of, 563. 
Prescott, 85, .554. 
Presidents of Common Council, list of, 

581. 
Presidents of the United States, Visits 

of to Lynn, 353, 380, 400, 417. 
Price, 208. 

Prices, 134, 1-36, 175, 196, 222, 2.3.5, 2,52, 
257, 2()6, 2i)8, 305, 322, 330, 380, 396. 
Prichard, 577. 

Prince, 62, 101, 162, 344, 382, 384, 499. 
Prince, (slave,) 344. 

Prince of Wales, his Visit to Lynn, 462. 
Pring, 29. 

Printing office, first in Lynn, 512, 514. 
Printing offices, in 1864, 586. 



Provisions, &c., prices of, at diffijreut 

periods. See Prices. 
Public Houses. See Taverns. 
Puffer, 577. 
Pidi)it Rock, 60, 75. 
Punishments. 140, 142, 143, 152, 157, 

102, 10.5, 173, 183, 191, 190, 197, 204, 

209, 212, 21(), 220, 223, 225, 230, 233, 

253, 25(5, 258. 
Purchis, 9, 10, 51, 1.57, 190, 192, 226, 

251, 250, 202, 266, 267, 282, 287, 290, 

577, 578, 580. 
Purinton, 345, 485. 
Puritanism. 100 to 110. 
Purv, 205. 
Putnam, 80, 122, 190, 214, 215, 295, 

323, 340, 341, 577, 583 
Pynchou, 121, 122, 123. 

Q. 

Quaker Doctrines discussed by George 

Keith and .John Richardson, in 1702, 

at Lynn, 300 to 305. 
Quaker Meeting-houses, 207, 320, 379. 
Quakers subjected to indignities and 

op|)ressions, 250, 262, 273, 296, 298, 

305. 
Quakers, riotous proceedings of, in 

1822, at their meeting-house, 387. 
Quakers divide on point of doctrine, 

and point stated, 441. 
Quakers, various facts concerning, 47, 

125, 291, 2i)6, 305, 312, 318, 329, 342, 

351,390,402,536,585. 
Quanai)aug, (Indian,) 263, 264. 
Quanapokonat, (Indian,) 42, 
Quarrel between Thomas Dexter and 

John Endicott, 137. 
Queakussen, (Indian,) 40, 41. 
Quonopohit, (Indian,) 51, 54, 55, 263, 

264, 282. 

R. 

Racoons, 374. 

Raddin, 2.35, 288, 443, 450, 570. 

Rail-roads, steam and horse, 100, 404, 

411, 436, 440, 463, 467, 473. 
Rain, 260, 262, 282, 314, 325, 359, 398, 

440. 
Ramsdell, 126, 229, 242, 289, 339, 425, 

443, 452, 577, 580. 
Rand, 190, 240, 292. 466, 577. 
Randall. 588. 
Randolph, 234, 284 to 291. 



C12 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



Rattlesnakes, 416, 425, 434. 
Raymond, 465. 
Raynor, 583. 

Read, 211, 276. .577. See Reed. 
Readin? settled in 1639, by Lynn peo- 
ple, 182. 
Rebellion, Shays's, 349, 352. 
Rebellion, Sonthern, of 1861, patriotic 
proceedings in Lynn at commence- 
ment of, 464. 
Records, Town, 9, 483. 
Red Rock, 69. 

Red Spring, 71. See Mineral Spring. 
Redding, 577. 
» Rednap;]27, 172, 239, .577. 

Reed, 201, 351, 4(55, 466, 477. See 

Read. 
Regan, 447. 

Regatta at Naliant, 457. 
Reith, 577. 

Religions Character of the Early Set- 
tlers, 100. 
Religions Societies, lists of, and iMinis- 
ters, 582, 583, 584, 585, 587, 588, 589. 
Remick, 465. 

Representatives, 134, 146, 292. Names 
of — Lynn, 578; Lynnfield, 587; 
Sangns, 588. 
Resolutions adopted in 1773, concern- 
ing the duty on Tea, 337. 
Resolutions concerning the South Caro- 
lina Nullification of 1832, 399. 
Resolutions concerning the Fugitive 

SlaveLawof 1850, 427. 
Resolutions concerning the Rebellion 

of 1861, 466. 
Revenue, U. S. surplus, distribiMed, 404. 
Revolutionary matters, 334 to 349. 
Revolutionary Soldiers belonging to 

Lynn, names of, 579. 
Rexlbrd, 583. 
Reynolds, 466, 577, 584. 
Rhodes, 91, 143, 157, 190, 2&3, 282, 292, 
320, a36, 356, 434, 447, 466, 520, 523, 
v534, 577, 580, 581. 
Rhymster, 333. 
Rice, 311, 312, 569, 583, 589. 
Rich, 577, 580. 
Richards, 126, 127, 143, 184, 282, 287, 

305, 577, 583, 584, .589. 
Richardson, 302, 303, 380, 439, 577, 

580,581. 
Rickman, 89, 90. 
Ricraft, 172. 
Riddan, 577. 

Rifle Company, Lynn, 389, 418. 
Ring, 577. 
Roach, 436, 577. 



Roads, 94, 100, 137, 196, 250, 260, 421. 

Roaring Cavern, 60. 

Robberies, 216, 379, 421, 426, 431, 461, 

462. 
Robbins, 368, 371, 382, 400, 407, 582. 
Roberts, 577. 
Robinson, 2','8, 357, 362, 367, 397, 410, 

579, 580, .581, 592. 
Robv,329, 340, 351, 363, 460, 579, 580, 

588. ^--— - 
Rock Temple, 64. 
Rocks, 60, 61, 62, 66, 68, 69, 72, 73, 74, 

439. 
Bockwood, 380, 398, 534, 582. 
Rogers, 162, 261, 451, 577, 583. 
Roman Catholics. See Catholic Church. 
Roolton, 172, 577. 
Root, 261, 577. 
Rooten, 577. 

Rope-walking, daring feats of, 461. 
Rose, 363. 
Rouillard, 62. 
Rowe, 466. 
Rowhuid, 577. 
Rubin, 211. 
Ruff, 524. 
Ruggles, 213. 

Rum exchanged for Negro Slaves, 178. 
Rummary. 577. 
Rumney 'Marsh, 39, 76. 
Russell, 122, 206, 278, 279, 402, 584, 

587. 



Sabbath and Sabbath-breaking, 105, 

110, 209, 217, 223, 256, 257, 300, 373, 
Sadler, 10, 94, 95, 1.57, 1.58, 172, 174, 

183, 196, 209, 214, 352, 577, 580. 
Sadler's Rock, 69, 72, 95, 439. 
Safety, Committee of. Revolutionary, 

340. 
Sagamore Hill, 36, 44, 69, 93, 121, 128, 

131, 165. 
Sagamore Hotel built, 439. 
Salaries, 277, 298, 311, 318, 322, 324, 

326. 
Sails, .577. 

Salmon, 127, 241, 252, 260, 577. 
Salter, 577. 

Saltonstall, 154, 280, 296. 
Saltpetre, manufacture of requh-ed in 

families, 203. 
Samson, (slave,) 344. 
Sanborn, 162, 465, 58-3. 
Sanchez, 28. 
Sancho, 22. 
Sandwich, settlement of, commenced 

in 1637 by Lynn people, 169. 



INDEX. 



613 



Sanfoid, 192, 584. 

Sarah, (Indian,) 41. 

Sargent, 3G2, 434, 46G, 583, 584, 585. 

Sassaciis, (Indian,) 17, 33, 1G8, 2G4. 

SAUGUS : 

Incorjjorated as a separate town, 378. 

Names of Representatives, Town 

Clerks, Post-masters, Ministers, 

588. 

And see pages 20, 57, 72, 75, 324, 

325, 329, 363, 3G6, 372, 379, 395, 

404, 405, 408. 42! », 430, 431, 435, 

438, 443, 450, 451, 4G0, 4G], 4(J3, 

467, 470, 471, 473, 572. See also 

Meeting-houses. Fires. Deaths. 

Liffhtning. Storms. 

Saugns River, 31, ,57, 7G, 144, 182, 205, 

223, 232, 372, 378, 390, 415, 421. 
Saunderson, 4G5. 
Savage, 120, 122, 15.5, 156, 158, 191, 

195, 234, 235, 259, 2GG, 280, 589. 
Savage Rock, 28. 

Savings institutions, 390, 445, 585. 
Sawin, 588. 
Say, 197. 
Savles, 158. 

Sayre, 171, 193, 194, 577. 
Scales, 451. 
Scarlet, 210. 

School-houses, 322, 324, 329, 3.58, 381, 
416, 421, 422, 42-3, 424, 428, 431, 432, 
436, 446, 447, 456, 458, 467. 
School-masters, 131, 203, 283, 292, 297, 
300, 305, 309, 310, 312, 318, 324, 329, 
58J. 
Schools, 222, 260, 283, 284, 305, 309, 

311, 318, 342, 351, 363, 424, 586. 
Schouler, 466. 
Scott, 172, 209, 405, 577. 
Sea, damage by the, 388, 429, 442. 

See Tides. 
Sea-guards erected on Beach, 388, 404, 

429. 
Sea-sei-pent, 382 to 386. 
Seal, Citv, 5.5G. 
Seals, 137, 439. 
Seari, 388, 587. 
Seccomb, 577. 
Sedgwick, 213. 
Seger, 589. 

Selectmen, 165, 266, 282, 293, 329. 
Senators, names of, fiom Lynn, 581. 
Sermons, 105, 149, 178, 316. 
Settlers. See Earlv Settlors. 
Sew&ll, 119, 127, i79, 276, 360, 361, 

443, 582. 
Seward, 427. 

Z2 



Shackford, 94, 425, 582. 

Shag Rocks, 60, 394. 

Shakspeare, 123. 

Sharks, 395, 451, 461. 

Sharp, 300, 432, 577. 

Sliattuck, 113. 

Shaw, 231, 417,588. 

Shays's Rebellion, 349, 352. 

Sheep, 131, 232, 286, 290, 311, 325, 

329. 
Shells, beach, 309, 368. 
Shepard, 238, 257, 276, 277, 278, 283, 
289, 291, 292, 293, 296, 2!)8, 299, 300, 
301, 303, 304, 311, 312, 314, 315, 316. 
317, 3 1 8, 333, 492, 577, 578, 582. 
Shepherd, town, 310. 
Sherman, 91, 417, 577. 
Shi|)wrecked Mariners, sufferings of, 

124, 357, 362, 364, 463. 
Shipwrecks, 124, 136, 141, 242, 311, 
325, 329, 331, 334, 335, 336, 353, 357, 
359, 362, 390, 391, 3!)2, 3!)4, 396, 403, 
407, 410, 431, 432, 448, 4J9, 456, 463. ' 
Ship-yards at Lynn, 321, 399. [478. 
Shirley, 575. 

Shoe business in 1864,586. 
Shoe-makers, 88, 89. 91, 154, 2.56, 299, 
• 328, 382, 413, 424, 447, 459, 586. 
Shoe-makers' Strike, in 1860, 459. 
Shoes and Shocmaki ng, 86, 232, 299, 
324, 334, 335, 361, 371, 520, 523, 524, 
525, 570. 
Shore, 577. 
Shorev, 364, 3G5, 373. 
Shrud, 1.38. 
Shurtleff, .5:33. 
Shute, 310, 575. 
Sias, 583. 

Sickness, 34, 81, 146,212,222, 2."), 2.56, 
2(i5, 298, 319, 324, 325, 342, 397, 421, 
424, 428, 490. 
Side-walks, brick, 440. 
Signatures. See Autographs. 
Siguenot, 117. 

Siik, manufacture of, at Lvmi, ,329, 404. 
Silsbe, 153, 184, 228, 292," 333, 577. 
Simmons, .577. 
Simms, 274, 580. 
Simon, 577. 
Simpson, 447. 
Siverns, 577. 
Skating, 4.55. 

Skeleton of Indian exhumed, 386. 
Skelton, 141. 
Skepi^ar, 21.5, 577. 
Skerry, 210. 
Skiff, 577. 
Skinner, 417, 587 



614 



HISTORY OF LYNN. 



Slade, 588. 

Slave, Fugitive, Law, of 1850, 426. 

Slavery, 22, 178, 187, 264, 426. 

Slavery, al)olisliinent of, in the West 
Indies, celebrated in Lynn, 415. 

Slaves owned in Lynn, 344. 

Slawson, 577. 

Sleepinjr in Meeting, 209, 212, 221. 

Sleigh Ride, perilous, 353. 

Small, 434. 

Small-pox, 146, 256, 298, 319, 342, 397, 
424, 490. 

Smith, 30, 33, 127, 163, 171, 187, 298, 
319, 351, 384, 396, 463, 465, 467, 569, 
577, 578, 579, 583, 584, 585, 589. 

Snakes, 62, 416, 425, 434. 

Snow, (surname,) 465, 466. 

Snow and Snow Storms, 141, 146, 176, 
203, 204, 2.59, 260, 298, 306, 310, 322, 
324, 32.5, 329, 335, 336, 364, 366, 371, 
372, 386, 391, 402, 433, 438, 441, 445, 
449, 464. 

Snow in July, .366; in June, 379. 

SnufF, manufacture of, 358. 

Soames, 288. 

Society, Female Benevolent, 478. 

Soldiers. See Military. Volunteers. 

Soldiers' bounties, ,341, 352, .358, 377. 

Soldiers, funerals of deceased, 471. 

Soldiers' lot in Cemetery, 472. 

Soldiers, names of, wiio volunteered 
at outbreak of Rebellion of 1861, 
465, 46(). 

Soldiers of the Revolution, names of, 
579. 

Soldiers, public reception of, on their 
return from war, 468, 473, 478. 

Soule, 434, 583. 

South, 143, 171, 173,577. 

Southampton, L. I., settled in 1640, by 
Lynn people, 192. 

Souther, 115, 470. 

Sparhawk, 318, 323, 336, 351, 587. 

Sparks, 466. 

Spa id ding, 395, 583, 589. 

Spear, 583. 

S])ecimens of Poetry, by deceased wri- 
ters, natives of Lynn, 395, 501, 503, 
504, 508 to 511, 530 to 533, 535, 
537, 545, 550 to 553, .565, 573, 574. 

Spencer, 94, 115, 172, 174, 183, 191, 
577. 

Spies, Indian, 263. 

Spinney, 417, 587. 

Spiritualism, 246, 413, 437, 471. 

S|)orts of the Indians, 46. 

S()outinsr Horn, 60. 

SpringPond, 71, 299. 411. 



Springs, 70, 71, 121, 147, 279, 300. 
See Mineral Spring. 

Sprowl, 410. 

Squidraysett, (Indian,) 141. 

St. John, 273, 274. 

Stacey, 190, 229, 263, 577. 

Stackpole, 379. 

Stage Travel,. 99, 333, 405. 

Stamp Act, 334. 

Stanbury, 171, 194, 577. 

Standish, 577. 

Stanley, 165, 225, 261, 448, 577, 578. 

Staples, 583, 584, 587. 

Star, Tlie, the tir&t penny newspaper 
in Lynn, 517. 

Starke, 577. 

Starkey, 577. 

Starkweather, 475. 

Starr, 577. 

Stavers. 333. 

Steam Cylinder, explosion of, 470. 

Steam Fiie Engine, first in Lynn, 477. 

Stearns, 406, 577. 

Steele, 583, 589. 

Stetson, 147. 

Stevens, 197, 438, 577, 583. 

Stewart, 577. See Stuart. 

Stickney, 581, 589, 592. 

Stimpson, 589. 

Stirling, 192. 

Stocker, 156, 298, 426, 577, 579, 580, 
588. 

Stocking, 583. 

Stocks, Bilboes, 142. 

Stockton, 123. 

Stoddard, 117 

Stone, 465, 588. 

Stone Houses, 201, 380, 381, 440, 469. 

Stores in Lynn, in 1864, 586. 

Stoi'ey, 373. 

Stork'e, 579. 

Storms, 124, 150. 203, 209, 221, 259, 
260, 266, 278, 306, 310, 319, 322, 324, 
325, 329, 335, 336, 359, 366, 371, 378, 
380, 386, 391, 396, 397, 407. 410, 416, 
423, 429, 433, 438, 440, 441, 445, 446, 
449,461,462,463,464,477. 

Stoughton, 575. 

Stowers, 489, 5? 

Strain, 585. 

Strange proceedings in forming a new 
church, in 1674, 261. 

Streets of Lynn, in 1864, 586. 

Strike, Shoemakers' in 1860, 459. 

Strong, 350, 575. 

Stuart, 497. See Stewart. 

Stuyvesant, 188. 

Styche, 207, 211, 239, 577. 



INDEX. 



615 



Styles, old and new, 25. 

Siiffeiinfrs of Sliipwrcckcd Mariners, 
124, 357, 3G2, 3t)4, ^i. 

Siillivaii, (j2, 350, 3(j9, 575. 

Summer, Indian, 82, 440. 

Sumner, 575. 

Sun, spots on. See Celestial Phenom- 
ena. 

Sunday Services, customs at, 105, 209. 
See Sabbath. Sleeping in Meeting. 

Sunderland, 413, 589. 

Sun-dial on Lynn Common, 453. 

Sun-fish, large, 4G2. 

Sunk Rock, 62. 

Surnames of all Lynn Settlers down to 
the year 1700, 57(5. 

Surplus United States Revenue distrib- 
uted, 404. 

Sutherland, 589. 

Swaine, .52. 

Swallows' Cave, 59, 75. 

Swamps, 78, 119, 128. 

SWA3IPSC0T: 

Incorporated as a separate towTi, 434. 
Orthography of the name, 170. 
First Fishing Schooner at, 359. 
Cemetery consecrated, 4-39. 
Lists of Town Clerks, Post-masters, 

and ]Ministers, 589. 
And see pages 20, 67, 73, 131, 250, 
358, 374, 391, 395, 402, 414, 415, 
423, 443, 445, 446, 447, 448, 450, 
451, 456, 457, 471, 472. See also 
Shipwrecks. Storms. Lightning. 
Tides. Fires. Deaths. 
Swan, 466, 545. 
Swansey, 417, 587. 
Sweetser, .321, 360, 465, 466, 588. 
Swett, 407, 410, 500, 582. 
Symonds, 120, 150, 196, 211. 
Sythe, im])roved, patented in 1655, by 
Joseph Jenks, of Lynu, 235. 



Tables of names of Public Officers and 
others, Statistics, &c., 575 to 589. 

Tailor, 575. See Tayloi*. 

Talbot, 300, 301, 588. 

Tahnage, 130, 171, 172, 176, 577. 

Tanneries, 112, 386. 

Tapley, 227, 465. 

Tar, manufacture of, 242. 

Tarbox, 114, 190, 225, 261, 263, 282, 
310, 478, 577. 

Tarr, 465, 577, 580. 

Tavern bills, curious, of certain colo- 
nial dignitaries, 210. 



Taverns, 114, 156, 165,210,214,223, 
255, 277, 341, 342, 365, 371, 382, 438, 
439, 469, 495, 586. 
Tax, City, at dift'erent periods, 586. 
Taxation, rate of, at various times, 586. 
Taxes, 145, 222, 31 1, 324, 334, .335, 586. 
Taylor, 127, 172, 190, 221, 222, 280, 
307, 320, 362, 400, 405, 428, 466, 577. 
Tea, early use of, 313. Votes passed 
in Lynn, in 1771 and 177.3, concern- 
ing tlie use of, .336, 337. Destruction 
of, in Lynn, in 1773, 337. 
Teague, 265, 577. 
Telegraph, 418, 444, 453, 454, 469. 
Temperance Levee of Rev. Tlieobold 

Matthew, 42-3. 
Temperance Society, 390. 
Tempests, 150, 209, 221, 259, 262, 366, 

396. 397, 407. See Storms. 
Temple, 230, 234, 541. 
Temple Rock, 64. 
Ten Hour System, 425. 
Terrv, 194. 
Thacher, 86, 150, 239, 358, 359, 361, 

365, 373, 381, 505, 577, 582, 587. 
Thanksgivings, 143, 473. 
Thayer, 583. 
Tiling, 462. 
Thorn, 577. 

Thomas, 124, 139, 155, 439. 
Thompson, 271, 354, 386, 401, 402, 

426, 428, 4()6, 577, 579, 589, 592. 
Thorn, 172, .577. 
Tliorndike, 371. 
Thorwald, 26, 27. 

Thoyght, 577. j 

Thrasher, 577. ' 

Throat Distemper, 325. 
Thunder. See Lightning. 
Tibbets, 425, 446. 

Tides, remarkable, 150, 203, 260, 319, 
336, 351, .395, 396, 407. 410, 423, 454. 
Tight rope, remarkable feats on, 461. 
Tillotson, 327, 584. 
Tilton, 190, 204, 577, 584. 
Tingle, 577. 

Tispaquin, (Indian,) 264. 
Titcomb, 352, 587. 
Tobacco, 141, 220, 250, 371. 
Tobin, 470. 

Tokowampate, (Indian,) 264. 
Tohnan, 577. 
Tom, (Indian,) 40, 41. 
Tom, Mount, origin of name, 124. 
Tomlins, 127, 1'28, 143, 146, 147, 157, 
16.5, 171, 172, 177, 196, 203, 209, 214, 
577, 578, 579, 580. 
Tontoquon, (Indian,) 39. 



616 



HISTORY OP LYNN. 



Tooley, 577. 

Tornados, 426, 431. See Tempests. 

Storms. Winds. 
Tour, 217. 
Tower, 251, 577. 
Towlin. 465. 

Town Clerks. See Clerks. 
Town House, 377, 424, 478, 591. 
Town IMeetinjrs, 132, 196, 241, 278, 

290, 296, 324", 360, 367, 368, 369, 371. 
Town Records, 9. 
Towue, 577, 581. 
Townsend, 159, 172, 196, 218, 263, 268, 

282, 310, 312, 339, 577, 580. 
Tracv, 453, 455, 583. 
Trade, Board of, 450. 
Trask, 242, 465, 577. 
Travel, modes of, and facilities for. 

93, 99, 298, 333, 405. 
Trawl-fisliinff, 450. 
Tread well, 333, 340, 346, 347, 582. 
Treason, 142,251. 
Tree, (surname,) 577. 
Trees, Frosted, 392, 445, 508. 
Trees, miscellaneous notices of, 77, 79, 

82, 147, 202, 408, 412, 438. 
Trevett, 409, 577. 
Trooi)ers. See Military- 
Trot, Horse, in 1816, at Lynn, 379. 
Trotting Horse killed by lightning, 4.53. 
Trotting Park, Franklin, laid out, 451. 
True, 144, 583, 584. 
Trumbull, 190, 577. 
Tucker, 318. 
Tuckerman, 388. 
Tuckney, 268. 
Tudor, 63, 389, 432, 474. 
Tufts, 227, 466, 579. 
Tupper, 169, 577. 
Turner, 128, 129, 130, 132, 140 to 143, 

146, 147, 165, 167, 177, 223, 577, 578, 

579. 
Turnpike, 100, 365, 478. 
Turtles, 423, 444, 461. 
Tutt, 466. 

Tuttle, 122, 465, 580. 
Twiss, 236. 
Twist, 580. 
Twombly, 583. 
Tyler, 190, 192, 405, 411. 
Tythingmen, 165. 

U. 

Unitarian Society, first in Lynn, formed, 
388. Succession of Ministers, 582. 

Unitarian Society, Central, (Free Cli.,) 
formed, 432. Succession of Minis- 
ters, 585. 



Universalism, first preaching of, in 

Lynn, 372. 
Uuiversalist Society, first in Lynn, 400. 

Succession of Ministers, 584. 
Univeisalist Society, second in Lynn, 

402. Succession of Ministers, 584. 
Uuiversalist Society in Lynnfield, 587. 
Uuiversalist Society in Saygus, 460, 

588. 
Upton, 579, 587. 
Usher, 425, 465, ,577, 579, 581. 

V. 

Vaccination, 342. 

Valuation of Estates in Lynn, at differ- 
ent periods, 428, 463, 586. 

Vane, 167, 169, 198, 575. 

Vasa, 22. 

Vassall, 158. 

Vaudreul, 117. 

Veal, 244, 246, 247, 248, 577. 

Vega, 28. 

Vegetable-animal, (rose-fish,) 80. 

Venus, (slave,) 344. 

Viall, 403. 

Vickary, 431. 

Vicksburg, fall of, celebrated, 473. 

Viles, 587.^ 

Vincent, 577. 

Vinton, 229, 577. 

Visit of Kossuth, the Hungarian Exile, 
433. 

Visits of Gen. Lafayette, 351, 388. 

Visits of Presidents of the United States, 
353, 380, 400, 417. 

Voltaire, 560. 

Volunteer Soldiers, 465, 467. See Mil- 
itary. 

Voyages and Discoveries, early, 25. 

W. 

Waban, (Indian,) 264. 

Wabaquin, (Indian,) 41. 

Wabbacowet, (Indian,) 35. 

Wade, 214, 216, 577. 

Wages. See Prices. 

Wainwricht, 317. 

Wait, 229, 256, 266, 334, 472, 577, 580, 

589. 
Walcott, 295, 587. 
Waldeu, 581. 
Waldo, 584. 
Wales, 577. 

Wales, Prince of, in Lynn, 462. 
Walker, 130, 135, 138, 151, 171, 172, 

190, 214, 217, 228, 242, 266, 275, 333, 

577, 578, 579. 
Walsall, 577. 



INDEX. 



617 



Walton, 171, 173, 194, 209, 577. 

War Meetings in Lynn, 4(>6, 470, 471, 

474. 
Ward, 219, 363, 403, 581, 584. 
Waidwell, 577, 581. 
Warmest weather ever known in Lynn, 

477. See Hot Weatlier. 
Warninir oft" a Settler, 297. 
Warreniore, 577. 
Warren, 583. 
Wars, 34, 107, 262, 204, 288, 305 330, 

331, 340, 372, 417. 
Wasc'iissue, (Indian,) 129. 
Washburn, 372, 575. 
VVashington, 350, 353, 301. 
Washington, President, visits Lynn, 

353. His memory honored, 301. 
Wasiiington Square enclosed, 409. 
Wastall, 154. 
Waterman, 546. 
Waters, 584. 
Wathin, 172, 577 
Wattaquattinusk, (Indian,) 39. 
VVatts, 137, 452, 405, 577, 580. 
Weather, extraordinary changes in the, 

82,417,438,443,404. 
Weather, warm. See Hot Weatlier. 
Webb, 194, 213, 234, 235, 583. 
Webbacowet, (Indian,) 35. 
Webster, 103, 421, 427, 435, 466, 549. 
Weinberg, 470. 
Weitzel, 473. 
Welby, 172, 577 
Weld", 205, 273. 

Welhnan, 190, 229, 251, 203, 335, 577. 
Wellmore, 577. 
Wells, 172, 174, 190, 192, 193, 302, 577, 

583. 
Wendell, 417. • 

Wenepoykin, Winnepurkit, (Indian,) 

30, 38 to 42, 51, 140, 233, 242, 203, 

204, 282. 
Wentworth, 117, 465. 
Weniichus, (Indian,) 36, 38, 41, 59, 

138. 
West, 172, 219, 577. 
Westland, 209, 270. 
Whales, 330, 391, 456. 
Whaling Company, 398. 
Whalley, 310, 400. 
Wheat, (surname,) 577. 
Wheat, (grain,) 255. 
Wheatley, 22. 
Wheaton, 493. 

iVljeeler, 143, 234, 242, 577. -\-- 

Wheelwright, 104, 169 ' 

Whipple, 211, 581. 
Whip-poor-will, 82. 

Z2* 



Whitcomb, 89, 90, 587. 
White, 130, 172, 289, 400, 577, 584, 589. 
\Vhitefield, 320, 327, 332, 333. 
Whitinsr, 14.5, 105, 109, 172, 212, 227, 

229, 231, 235, 230, 238, 240, 241, 242, 

253, 254, 250, 257, 200, 205, 200 to 

270, 290, 314, 333, 492, 577, 582. 
Whitman, 580. 

Wiiitnev, 291, 311, 312, 465, 584. 
Whitricige, 172, 227, 577, 587. 
Wliitteniore, 358, 577. 
Wliittier, 91. 
Wiiittingham, 225. 
Wiggin, 210. 242, 451. 
Wigglesworth, 332, 356. 
Wiirht, (slave,) 229, 344, 577. 
Wilbur, 442, 588. 
Wild Animals tbund in Lvnn, 45. 
Wild Fowl, 80. 
Wildes, 584. 

Wilev, 372, 425, 583, 587. 
Welkins, 122, 130, 577. 
Willev, 151, 577. 
William, Duke, or Black Will, (Indian,) 

40, 131, 141, 144, 241, 242. 
Williams, 48, 117, 164,335,370,465, 

577, 580, 588. 
Williamson, 359. 
Willis, 85, 130, 146, 171, 214, 381, 382, 

577, 578, 580, 584. 
Williston, 362, 583. 
Willman, 577. 

Wills, curious, 121, 122, 188. 
Wilson, r^2, 146, 109, 216, 271, 466, 

577, 583. 
Wilt, 577. 

Windmill Hill, 127, 165. 
Winds, hich, 206, 278, 378, 425, 426, 

431,437,438,441,463,477. 
Wing, 162, 486, 577. 
Winget, 330. 
Winser, 577. 
Winslow, 35, 169. 
Winter, (surname,) 100, 577. 
Winers, remarkable, 257, 298, 381. 
Wiiithrop, 95, 100, 114, 124, 129, 133, 

130, 137, 139, 140, 141, 140, 155^ 160, 

164, 168, 169, 183, 187, 193, 199, 200, 

203, 205, 209, 213, 224, 31 1, 575. 
Wire manufacture, 257, 372. 
Wit, singular encounters of, 330, 346. 
Witchcraft and Witches, 186, 224, 238, 

270, 293 to 290. 
Witherdin, 220. 

Witt, 190, 192, 256, 293, 299, 577. 
Witter, 130, 131, 208, 219, 230, 231, 

242, 577. 
Wolfe, 396. 



618 



HISTOEY OF LYNN. 



Wolf's Cave, 66. 

Wolves, 132, 136, 144, 147, 241, 286, 

299, 311, 32i). 
Woman, tributes to, 17, 405^ 
Wonohaquaham,(liKliau,)36, 137, 138, 

146. 
Wood, 45, 70, 77, 79, 113, 133, 136, 

141, 143, 145, 165, 169, 171, 577, 578, 

579. 
Woodbury, 339. 
Woodend, origin of name, 113. 
Woodev, 242. 297, 577. 
Woodlands, 306. 
Woodman, 577. 
Woods, Fires in the, 424, 431, 443, 458, 

477. 
Wooing, 37, 1&3, 186, 222, 225, 280. 
Worcester, 120, 277. 
Work-house, 381, 423. 



World's Fair, in 1852, 436. 
Wormwood, 321.577. 
Wright, 131, 135, 140, 143, 577, 584. 
Writers, deceased, of Poetry and Prose, 

natives of Lynn, 502, 505, 528, 533, 

536, 540, 544, 567. 
Writs, Clerks of the, 292, 580. 
Wuttanoh, (Indian,) 39, 41. 
Wyman, 163. 

Y. 

Yarmoutli settled in 1639, by Lynn 

people, 182. 
Yatt, 194. 

Yawata, (Indian,) 36, 40, 59, 264. 
York, 417. 
Young, 466, 580, 583. 

Z. 

Zodiacal Light, 257. 




EASTERN HAIL ROAD STATION, LYNN. 
Erected in 1848. Central Square. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



1004. Thorwalb, the Northman, supposed to liave visited Nahant. 
1602. Gosnold siipj)osed to have anchored near Nahant. 
1614. Captain John Smith appears at Nahant. 
1622. Nahant granted to Captain Robert Gorges. 

1629. Settlement of Lynn commences. 

1630. Thomas Newhall horn ; being the first wliite person born in Lynn. Fifty 

settlers, chiefly farmers, with many families, arrive. 

1632. First Church formed, Rev. Stephen Bachiler, minister. 

1633. A corn mill built on Strawberry brook; the first mill in Lynn. 

1634. Hon. John Humfrey arrives and settles on his farm, near Nahant street. 

William Wood, of Lynn, puliiishes his "New Englauds Prospect." 

1635. Philip Kertland, the first shoemaker in Lynn, arrives. 

1637. Name of the settlement changed from Saugus to Lynn. 

1638. First division of lands, among the inhabitants. 

1639. Ferry establislied across Saugus river, from Needham's Landing to Bal- 

lard's. First bridge over Saugus river, at Boston street crossing, built. 

1643. Iron Works established on Saugus river; the first in America. 

1646. A market ordered to be held at Lynn every Tuesday, " their lecture day." 

1658. Dungeon Rock su|)posed to have been rent by an earthquake, entomb- 
ing alive Thomas Veal, a pirate, with treasure. 

1669. Boniface Burton, dies, aged 113 years. 

1671. This year was remarkable for the severity of its storms. There was a 
violent snow storm, 18 January, with much thunder and lightning. 

1680. Dr. Philip Read complains of Mrs. Margaret GifFord, as a witch. The 
great Newtonian comet appears, in November, exciting much alarm. 

1682. Old Tunnel Meeting-house built. 

1688. The people much excited by Randolph's petition to Andros, for Nahant. 

1692. Great witchcraft excitement. 

1696. Severe winter; the coldest since the settlement commenced. 

1697. Much alarm in Lynn on account of the appearance of llje small-pox. 
1706. Second division of lands among the inhabitants. 

1708. A fast held on accounf of the ravages of canker worms and caterpillars. 

1715. First Meeting-house in Lynnfield built. 

1716. Extraordinary darkness at noon-day, 21 Oct.; dinner tables lighted. 

1717. Memorable snow storms, Feb. 20 and 24 ; one story houses buried. 
1719. Northern Lights observed for the first time, 17 Dec; a startling display. 
1723. Terrific storm, 24 Feb., the sea raging and rising to an alarming height. 

First mill on Saugus river, at Boston street crossing, built. 
1726. £13.15 awarded to Nathaniel Potter, for linen manufactured at Lynn. 
1736^ First Meeting-house in Saugus built. 
1745. Mr. Whitefield preaches on Lynn Common, creating much excitement. 

1749. Great drought, hot summer, and immense multitudes of grasshoppers. 

1750. Jolm Adam Dagyr. an accomplished shoemaker arrives, and gives great 

impetus to the business; became noted, but died in the alms-house. 
1755. Greatest earthquake ever known in New England, 18 November. 
1770. Potato rot prevails. Canker worms commit great ravages. 
1776. Twenty-six negro slaves owned in Lynn. 
1780. IMemorablc dark day, 19 IMay ; houses lighted as at night. 
1793. Lynn Post-office established, and kept on Boston street, near Federal. 

(619) 



620 HISTORY OF LYNN. 

1795. Brig Peggy wrecked on Long Beach, Dec. 9, and eleven lives lost. 
1800. Manufacture of morocco leather introduced. Elephant fust shown here. 

1803. Boston and Salem Turnpike opened and Lynn Hotel huilt. Miles Shorey 

and wife killed hy lightning, at their dwelling, Boston street, 10 July, 

1804. Independence first celebrated in Lynn. Snow fell in July. 

1808. First law office in Lynn opened. Great bull fight at Half-way House. 
Trapping of lobsters first practised at Svvampscot. 

1813. Moll Pitcher, the celebrated fortune-teller dies, 9 April, aged 75 years. 

1814. Lynnficld incorporated as a separate town. First Town House in Lynn 

built. First bank established. Female Benevolent Society formed. 

1815. Saugus incorporated as a separate town. Terrific southeasterly gale, 

23 September, carrying the ocean spray several miles inland. 
1819. The great sea-serpent a))pears in our waters. 
18'i5. First Lynn newspaper — the Weekly Mirror — issued, 3 September. 

1827. A broad and brilliant night arch, 28 August. 

1828. A whale, sixty feet in length, cast ashore at Whale beach, 2 May. 

1829. A splendid display of frosted trees, 10 January. Another in Dec, 1855. 
1833. Extraordinary shower of meteors, 13 November. 

1838. Eastern ll;iil Road opened for travel, from Boston for Salem, 28 August. 
1843. Schooner Tliomas wrecked on Long b(>ach, five men perishing, 17 March. 
184G. Rockaway House, Swampscot, burned. 1 January. 

1848. Carriage Road over harbor side of Long beach built. Lynn Common 

fenced. George Gray, the Lynn hermit, dies. 

1849. Lynn Police Court established. Large emigration to California. 

18."30. Lynn adopts the City form of government. Pine Grove Cemetery con- 
secrated, 24 July. Thirteen persons, of a pic-nic party, drowned in 
LyiMifield pond, 15 August. "Ten hour system" generally adopted. 

1851. John J. Perdy n)iu-dered at his boarding house, Market street, 28 June. 

1852. Swam])scot incorporated as a separate town. Hiram Marble commences 

the excavation of Dungeon Rock. Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian 
exile visits Lynn, G May. Onniibus line commences in Lynn. 

1853. Nahant incorporated as a separate town. Prize fight on Lyiuifield road, 

3 January. Gas first lighted in Lynn, 13 January. Cars commence 
nnuiing over the Saugus Branch Rail Road, 1 February. Patrick 
McGuire fatally stabbed, in Franklin street, 26 September. 

1856. Egg Rock light shown for the first time, 15 September. 

1857. Bark Tcdesco wrecked at Swampscot, all on board ])erishing, 18 January. 

1858. Telegraphic communication between Lynn and other places established. 

A magnificent comet, Donati's, visible in the northwest, in the autuiim. 

1859. Roman Catholic church, Ash street, burned, 28 May. Brilliant display 

of northern lights, 28 August ; the whole heavens covered. Union 
street IMethodist meeting-house destroyed by fire, 20 November. 

18G0. Harbor so frozen, in January, that persons walked across, to Bass Point. 
Shoemakers' great strike commences in February. Prince of Wales 
passes throuirh town, 20 October. Horse Rail Road cars commence 
running, 29 Noven)ber. Market street first lighted by gas, 7 Dec. 

18G1. Alonzo Lewis, the ]>oet and historian, dies 21 January, aged 66 years. 
A spl(Mi(lid comet suddenly appears, 2 July, the tail of which had 
actually swept the earth three days before, producing nothing beyond 
a slight apparently amoral light in the atmos|)here. The extensive 
edifice known as Nahant Hotel, burned, 12 September. 

1862. Lynn Free Public Lil)rary opened. Enthusiastrc war meetings held. 
Nathan Breed, jr., murdered in his store, on Summer street, 23 Dec. 

1864. June 25, the thermometer rose to 104 degrees, in shady })laces, in Lynn, 
indicating the warmest day here of which there is any record. Great 
drought, and extensive fires in the woods, during the summer. City 
Hall, (old Town House* built in 1814,) burned 6 October, and Joseph 
Bond, confined in the lock-up, burned to death. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





014 077 679 8% 




